Mass Effect: Beauty and The Beast
by W.A.R1989
Summary: This is the Story of Commander Wayne Allen Shepherd and Tali'Zorah's less than smooth start to a relationship. Covers Mass Effect 1, 2, and 3 UPDATED FOR CORRECTIONS and SOME NEW CHAPTERS
1. Chapter 1: Unlikely Prince

Mass Effect: Beauty and the Beast

**Chapter 1: An Unlikely Prince**

'_Oh Keelah! I'm done for' _is what the girl thought, she had only left home for two years and already she had gotten herself in a life-threatening situation. Her name was Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, a Quarian, from the Migrant Fleet; she is on her pilgrimage, and it was a rite of passage into adulthood for her people, but now it was a disaster. It started well enough, an odd job here and there, if she could get a job, Quarians weren't exactly looked upon with great respect by the rest of galactic community, in fact they were seen as less than trash. One day, she found a gold mine, an intact geth, synthetics created by her people who drove them off their home planet of Rannoch, the ones responsible for her people's humiliation, and extracted its memory core, before it could fry it. Now Tali wish she could be done with the damned core, because now she was being hunted down for the data in the core. The data revealed the betrayal of a council Spectre, an elite of the Citadel Council's military power, the Spectre was not happy about it, and set up a hit on her.

Now she is trapped, stuck in the corridors of the Wards, facing her three assailants, two salarians and a turian, she could fight back, after all she had trained with Migrant Fleet Marines, because of her father's position as admiral, but the fact of the matter it was still three against one. Was this it? Was she going to die here alone with no one caring? _'Looks like it, after all who is going to save a suit rat'_ she thought bitterly, but she didn't want to die, she was scared. She threw a proxy mine at one of the assassins, it had stunned them, but it had only delayed her date with death. She was behind a box, she knew she was done for, but she was not going to die quietly, she was going to take one of those bosh'tets with her, at the age of twenty-one, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya would soon be with her ancestors. She rose up to face the assassins only to hear a gunshot, she flinched thinking she had been shot, she didn't feel anything.

She then realized it had come from the other direction. _'Behind me!'_ she thought. In front of her was a turian in blue armor, C-sec armor, which was strange considering people from C-sec (Citadel Security), saw her people as criminals and their favorite punching bags. The other one was a krogan in red armor, large lizard like race, known for their violent tempers, but to see a krogan and a turian work together was rare and strange sight, the two races never had good relations, especially after the Krogan Rebellions centuries ago. Bringing up the rear was a human, a race she had little to no contact with, other than the doctor that treated her when she was wounded on the Citadel. _'Must be the leader'_ she thought. Before she could blink, the odd group took down the assassins quickly and easily.

Was this her lucky day? It seems justice can happen in this galaxy. The krogan began to speak. "Well that was boring, at least they didn't kill the Quarian," he said. Tali was angry, she had a name, being refer to as just the 'Quarian' didn't sit well with her, too many races refer to her race with contempt.

"My name is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, not Quarian; I suggest you get it right, Krogan," she hissed. The Krogan narrowed his eyes at the girl, but to Tali's surprise the Krogan started laughing loudly.

"You got a quad on you, kid, most would be dead talking to a krogan like that," he said with great amusement. The human gave the krogan a look, and stopped laughing. '_The human must be something to get a Krogan to listen to him' _she thought. She looked at the human for a bit, of all the known race, she had little knowledge of humans, the recent addition to the galactic community. Unlike the doctor, this human was male also the human's skin was darker than the human doctor who had treated her; his eyes were hazel and slanted much like her own people, but his hair was whitish-blonde, which was strange, because the hair on his face was dark. Other than the legs and number of fingers (Quarians have three), humans looked remarkably like her people. _'he has hair, I always thought Quarians were the only one who had hair, guess I was wrong, he's kind of cute for an alien'_ she thought. She then heard him speak

"Hey rookie, got my data or what?" he asked impatiently._ 'Cute, but rude' _she thought somewhat annoyed. She didn't know if she could trust these strangers, but considering her luck so far she would take her chances. The human seemed more restless the longer Tali didn't give him an answer.

"Well? Do you have it or not?!" Shepherd said more forcefully. Tali took a step back, surprised, by his unprovoked hostility, and looked at him wearily. Then again maybe she was safer with Saren's men. Much safer….


	2. Chapter 2: The Quarian's Proof

**Chapter 2: The Quarian's Proof**

"Well? Do you have it or not?!" Shepherd said more forcefully. Tali took a step back, surprised, by his unprovoked hostile attitude, looked at him wearily. _'Great it looks like I scared her' _he thought. Shepherd wasn't what you would call the nicest person in the galaxy; far from it he would admit, the events in his life was a testament to that. His motto in life was that life was shit sandwich no matter who you were, and if you had nicer life well you just had better shit sandwich. _'Ever since the mission on Eden Prime, it has been a pain in the ass after pain in the ass; being kicked out the running for the spectres, because one of them who was scouting him was killed by that fuckin' traitor Saren, the visions from that fuckin' beacon, everything's gone to hell, so excuse me if I don't to play fuckin' nice'_ he thought bitterly.

"Well don't you understand English? Give me the damn data, we don't have all day" Shepherd said annoyed. Shepherd then saw something moving behind the Quarian, and without thinking pulled out his pistol. Tali were preparing her shotgun, until he fired at the merc that was behind her. Tali looked behind her and saw the merc drop to the floor, into a puddle of his own blood.

"Fucking idiots just don't know when to stay down…" Shepherd said annoyed. Tali glared at the man, and Shepherd saw heated glare, if he was a lesser man he would have pissed his pants, instead he shrugged it off. "What?"

"Keelah, you couldn't have warned me first, you bost'tet!" she said angrily "You almost hit me!" Shepherd just rolled his eyes.

"But I didn't" he said calmly. "Besides, you were too slow, now the data, rookie,'' Tali just crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him, he had to give the girl credit, she wasn't scared of him at all. _'Fuck, fine I'll play your game, only to get this over with'_ he thought. "My name is Wayne Allen Shepherd; you have data to go after a Spectre, a traitor, the same one that sent these numb nuts after you." He said calmly. No reaction from the quarian. _'Damn this girl is impossible'. _Garrus then spoke up.

"Um, Commander, maybe we could finish this at the human embassy, if that's okay, Tali," Garrus said calmly._ 'Finally a plan' _Shepherd thought.

"The Presidium, let's go, unless the rookie has other plans." He said. The odd group made their way to the Presidium, although they had to endure the painfully slow elevator ride. _'A galactic civilization thousands of years old and yet we can't get an elevator that goes fuckin' fast enough'_ he thought. Shepherd gazed at his four companions, Garrus Valkarian, the turian c-sec officer, he seemed trustworthy enough. '_He wants to go after Saren, almost as much as me, rash, impatient, basically a turian version, of me, as if Kaiden has enough headache with me around' _he thought with a smirk.

Urdnot Wrex, the krogan mercenary, violent like all krogan, but there was a spark of wisdom about him. _'Exactly how old is he? He seems to know a lot, maybe I could get him to talk, could be fun' _then he turned his attention to Tali aka 'rookie', the Quarian he just rescued, they didn't get off to a good start. He started to look at her features, well lack of features as she had that suit and helmet. _'_She's_ kinda cute, in a difficult, mouthy way, although the way she mouth offed to Wrex was kinda badass.' _He thought smiling. He couldn't stop staring at the girl, although he wouldn't admit it he liked how she stood up him, most were too spineless to stand up to him, except his best friend Kaiden. _'Nice tits and ass, a petite, but toned body, my type of woman, like Emi' _as soon as he thought of Emi, his old girlfriend, he thought of Mindoir, and his smile disappeared. _'I should have died with them, it's not fair'_.

They made it to the human embassy and met up with two men. _'And now to talk to my favorite person' _he thought annoyed. The two men, one as dark-skinned as Shepherd in an Alliance uniform, and another man white skinned in a fancy suit, were waiting for the good news.

"Welcome back, Shepherd, I hope you didn't cause too much trouble," the dark-skinned man said. Captain David Anderson, captain of the ship, The Normandy, an honorable man, that Shepherd had deep respect for, he had taken him in after he was close to death on Mindoir when he was sixteen, Shepherd saw him a father figure and joined the Alliance out of thanks for saving his life. Shepherd gave a sharp salute.

"Well I tried, Anderson, but you know mercs, all brawn and no brains" Sheperd jokingly. Anderson chuckled a little, although the other man didn't consider it funny.

"I hardly find this funny, Shepherd, gunfights in the Wards and Chora's Den? What were you thinking, you idiot? You could have jeopardized my position!" the White skinned man said angrily. Shepherd rolled his eyes at the man's complaint.

He looked at Tali. "A quarian, what is this, Shepherd?"

Donnel Udina, current ambassador for humanity, and all around snake. Shepherd hated politicians; he saw them in the same light as corporations, underhanded bastards that would stab their mothers in the back if they could get ahead. Shepherd, however, had out right venom for the man, because he was responsible for the Alliance's slow response to Mindoir. _'If it wasn't for you, my family and Emi would still be alive'_ he thought angrily. He gritted his teeth, he wanted very much to hit him, but stayed calm.

"Yes, because I so care about you position" he said sarcastically barely containing his venom. "I got the job done, get off my back" Udina was about to complain about Shepherd's attitude, but Anderson beat him to the punch.

"Commander" he simply said sternly.

"Sorry Ambassador" Shepherd said with barely consoled contempt. Shepherd nodded and Tali showed her evidence to the group. She plays an audio file that clearly exposes Saren as the person who attacked Eden Prime. She plays another voice that says something about Reaper, but no one recognizes it. Tali explained that the geth revere the Reapers as gods and they existed and wiped out the Protheans 50,000 years ago. However something about the reapers clicked with Shepherd, but he shook his head he'll deal with it later. Udina runs out of the room all too eager to show the evidence to the Council

"We got the bastard, the council has to listen now" Garrus said with excitement. Shepherd agreed and looked at Tali, he was impressed, and he was hard to impress, she did what the Alliance failed multiple times trying. Garrus and Wrex had impressed him with their fighting skills, Tali with her intelligence, he knew what to do.

"Rookie, how would you like to join our crew?"


	3. Chapter 3: History in the Making

**Chapter 3: History in the Making**

Tali couldn't believe her ears, Shepherd asked her to become a member of his crew. She thought she had a fever and might be hearing things, Quarians were seen as vermin by the rest of the galaxy as a whole, but to join a crew, to become an equal among races other than her people, how could she not take it? _'Maybe I was wrong about him'_ she thought.

"Well, what's your answer? I haven't got all day, rookie" Shepherd said annoyed. And that was the only downside, Shepherd's attitude; he really was the rudest person she has ever met. _'If he is like this all the time, then this is going to be a long trip'_ she thought grimly.

"My answer is yes, though could be more polite about it." Tali said annoyed. Shepherd just snorted.

"Why? It's not like it's going to be a picnic, rookie" Shepherd said. _'It that bosht'tet calls me rookie one more time...'_

Her thoughts were interrupted by Anderson's voice. "If you two are quite done, we need to get this to the council" Anderson said half amused. Tali started to stiffen up. _'The council? That means going up to the Citadel Tower' _She would get to see the galaxy's elite, the same elite that abandoned her people, when we asked them for help against the geth.

The group walked to the Citadel tower, though the walk wasn't exactly an enjoyable, as people was give strange looks to the group, Tali had to admit, they were a strange group, two humans, a turian c-sec officer, a krogan and a quarian. The people especially gave hard stares to her, the so-called vagrant, the trash of the galaxy. _'We made one mistake, one, and they're quick to turn us into pariahs, the galaxy's leaders what a joke.' _She thought with a scoff. She had then heard something surprising from Shepherd.

"You okay? Rookie?" Shepherd asked. Tali look at him blankly; she wasn't expecting to hear concern from him, she even forgot he called her rookie again.

"Why do you care?" she asked.

"Look, I know I was jerk to you, but I'm trying here, at least give me that" Shepherd said.

Tali just sighed. "Three-hundred years ago, before the geth rebelled, we had an embassy on the Citadel, in fact, we were very close to getting a seat on the council, because of the geth, funny how things change." She said sadly. To her surprise, Shepherd put his hands on her shoulders, she looked at Shepherd, his face had a look of compassion, the first time she's seen something like that from him.

"If your people are as stubborn as you, then they'll be fine, besides after we take down Saren, your people will be seen in an new light, just don't give up" he said. Tali felt her cheeks heat up, since they met they haven't exactly been civil with each other, but the fact he tried to cheer her up made her feel better. Maybe he was better than he let on.

"Thanks Shepherd, although, you are still a bosh'tet" she said smiling. Shepherd just chuckled.

"You're welcome, and FYI you're still a rookie" he said with a smirk. _'Maybe this won't be so bad after all' _she thought with a quiet giggle. The group made it to the Citadel Tower.

Tali hated to admit it, but the Tower was awe-inspiring, simple in its design, but that didn't detract from its majesty_._ And there was the three councilors looking down from their pedestals like gods, Tali scoffed at the idea.

"A blatant display of wealth and power, three-hundred years and the council still show their arrogance_"_ she whispered bitterly. When Shepherd, the team and Anderson met with Udina, Tali's evidence was being played for the council. The turian councilor reluctantly agreed the evidence is irrefutable and the council strips Saren of his Spectre status.

"About time.."

"You got your evidence, now I demand you do something about Saren" Udina said. She had to admire the man's boldness, most races wouldn't dare talk to the Council, but if the stories she's heard about humans are true, they weren't most races. The turian councilor glared at him, and argued he had no right to make demands of the council, it was typical to Tali, the council wasn't going to budge, even with proof. _'Just like them to wait on their hands, wouldn't want to make to their top Spectre to look bad' _she scoffed. All of a sudden a very pissed off Shepherd took the stage. _'What does that bosh'tet think he's doing?'_

"You know for leaders, you guys seem to be quick to stick you head up your asses, and call it done." Shepherd said. "I thought the Council was the elite of the galaxy, not a bunch of cowards" The council looked at him angrily.

Even though she thought Shepherd was right, she was still taken aback at how quickly he was willing to disrespect the higher-ups. _'Keelah, he would never make it in the Migrant Fleet' _she thought shocked. The turian councilor began to speak.

"You seem to forget your place Shepherd" he said with contempt. Shepherd just rolled his eyes.

"And seem to forget how to do your job, so what else is new?" The councilor looked at him with venom.

"Listen here you insolent-"before he could finish Shepherd interrupted him.

"No you listen, I don't give a fuck if he is your best tool, he's a threat to my people, if you don't take action we will.'' He said defiantly. The chamber was dead silent, stunned at Shepherd's boldness, he had just threaten to go after Saren without the council's permission. Tali shook her head in disbelief _'That bosh'tet is going to ruin everything for his people' _she thought. She was wondering how this idiot of a man got the rank he did, he was rash and reckless in both words and action, and may have ruined his people's chance to get justice for one of their human colonies. But then she heard something surprising.

"Commander Shepherd, step forward" The asari councilor said calmly. The turian and salarian councilor looked at her with surprise. The turian councilor spoke out.

"No! It's too soon. Humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the Spectres, that outburst proves it" He said with venom.

Shepherd just smirked. "Look at it this way, you don't have to send a fleet into the Traverse, and Udina gets his human Spectre and a pat on the head for being a good lapdog," the Commander countered, "Everybody's happy." The salarian and asari both turned to their turian colleague seeing if he would argue. After a long moment he reluctantly accepted the decision. The trio placed their votes into their terminals and returned their attention to the Commander.

"It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel," the asari announced in her ever level voice.

"Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fires of service and battle, those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file," the salarian said, finally speaking for the first time.

"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol." the asari resumed, "The embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will."

The turian growled, obviously not happy, "Spectres bear a great burden. They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold." Tali blinked, she could not believe it, most people would have been thrown out on the chambers for antagonizing the council, but, they were rewarding him for it, by making him a spectre. The first human spectre.

"You are the first human Spectre, Commander. This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species," the asari finished. Shepherd looked back at Tali, and gave a cocky smirk. _'Keelah, who or what is this man?' _She then knew she wanted to learn more about this human named Shepherd.


	4. Chapter 4: The Normandy

**Chapter 4: The Normandy**

'_Well this is unexpected, lady luck must be smiling at me'_ Shepherd thought with a grin. The council just made him a spectre to chase after Saren, apparently being an asshole at time did work to his favor once. Anderson came up to the new spectre and shook his and hand. "Congratulations Shepherd, you did well, although we are going to have to a serious talk about about superiors" Anderson said half-serious.

Shepherd rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and chuckled nervously, "Sorry Anderson, I just couldn't stand the council's bullshit any longer, but at least we got that human spectre." Udina came up to the two men, he face was beet red, and Shepherd knew he was going to hear it from him.

"Do you have any idea how lucky we were?! If it wasn't for that evidence, I don't want to even think about the blowback!" Udina growled.

Shepherd smirked. "You're a politician; I thought you'd be used to eating shit sandwiches."

Udina growled, "you're lucky that you are a spectre, otherwise I would have ended your very short career, Anderson, come to my office, we will need to set everything up." Udina left still fuming at Shepherd's disrespect. Shepherd gave a smug smile; it always made him feel good to give Udina a piece of his mind.

Anderson looked at him and shook his head, "I know you're still pissed about his decision on Mindoir, but making him your enemy won't bring them back."

Shepherd sighed and nodded his head. "I know" he simply said sadly. Anderson left to go to Udina's office, leaving Shepherd with his companions, they left heading for the ship. While walking to C-sec, Shepherd saw Garrus grinning, "Garrus, something I should know about? You seem a little too happy there."

The turian stopped grinning and rubbed his neck. "Sorry, it just after years trying to expose Saren, finally we can go after the bastard."

Shepherd raised his brow at that, "How long have you been trying to expose him?"

Garrus cleared his throat. "Six years straight" he said proudly. Shepherd blinked at that. _'Wow obsessed much'_ he thought.

He then heard Tali laugh, "At least your dedicated, Garrus" Garrus growled at that and narrowed his eyes at Tali.

"This isn't joke! Saren is a threat and a disgrace to my people." Garrus said. Shepherd put his hand on the turian's shoulder and gave him a stern look.

"Chill, Garrus, she was just joking"

Tali stopped her laughing. "Sorry, didn't mean to offend you." She said.

Garrus shook his head, "No I'm sorry, people have said I needed to lighten up" he said apologetically. _'I'll say'_ Shepherd thought.

Shepherd looked at Wrex, "Why are you still here? You already killed Fist, don't you have other jobs."

Wrex shrugged his shoulders. "You get the most fights, that's all" he said simply. _"Short, simple, and to the point, I like it'_ he said with a smirk.

Shepherd's gaze met with Tali. "What about you, rookie? No regrets about coming with us?"

Tali crossed her arms. "Of course not, someone has to make sure your dumb luck don't get us killed." She said annoyed. "I mean Keelah, Udina was right, we were lucky".

Shepherd raised his brow. "So what would you have done, hmm?" he asked. Tali was speechless, she didn't have an answer. Shepherd smirked. "I thought so"

Tali glared at him. "Oh! You arrogant bosh'tet!" she huffed. The four made it to c-sec's docks, when they met up with Anderson and Udina.

"Shepherd..." Anderson simply said. Something wasn't right to Shepherd, the way Anderson was looking; he knew was wrong, he had known him too long to not notice.

"Sir, what's wrong?" Shepherd said with had a sixth sense when it came to bad news, and usually he was right. "Garrus, Wrex, and Rookie, go to the ship, I'll catch up" he said seriously. Garrus and Wrex looked at each other, but went inside.

"Yes, Commander" Garrus said with a salute.

Wrex just nodded "Shepherd." He simply said.

Tali was the last one to go inside, she was worried, Shepherd had a very serious look in his eyes, this could only end badly. She looked at Shepherd one last time; Shepherd gave her an assuring nod, before she went in. Shepherd was now alone with the two men, waiting for them to speak. "Shepherd, good news, Captain Anderson has chosen to step down as Captain of the Normandy."

Shepherd crossed his arms and glared at Udina. "Chose or forced?" he hissed. Anderson just put his hand on Shepherd's shoulders, before he started something with the ambassador.

"The ship is yours, son" he said sadly.

Shepherd shook his head. "This isn't right, Udina, Anderson is the rightful commander of the Normandy, and he should be on the mission too!" he said angrily. Udina had small sliver of smirk, and Shepherd narrowed his eyes, he was getting back at him for insulting him, this was his fault. "You bastard, if you're going to punish me, then punish me! But don't take it out on Anderson!"

Udina just gave a smug smirk. "Whatever do you mean, Shepherd?"

Shepherd glowed blue and approached him, he going to be glad to wipe that smirk off his face. Anderson then came in front of Shepherd and looked him in the eye. "Stand down, soldier, you know this is the right call, you know the ship and the crew." He ordered.

Shepherd's shoulders slumped; this was painful to him, to see a man who saved his life, his second father treated like this, but as much as he hated what Udina did, he knew it was right call. "Now, Anderson I have something for you to do, now that you been assigned to me, I'll see you at my office" he said barely containing a smug smile. _'Fuck you, asshole'_ he thought angrily. Udina left leaving the two men.

Anderson sighed. "Not the way I saw my retirement" he said. Shepherd looked at him, he knew his mentor didn't like the decision any more than Shepherd did, but he took it for the sake of his mission. Shepherd didn't fill right about doing this.

Shepherd shook his head. "How can you be okay with this? This is your mission too" he said sadly.

Anderson just looked at Shepherd "Look son, you became something that I failed at twenty years ago, you became the first human spectre, and you have the chance to do something good with it" He looked Anderson with a concerned look, he didn't seem convinced.

"I'll be fine son, it's not like I'm dying, and I'll just have to learn to enjoy paperwork." He said. Shepherd chuckled a little at that. Anderson walked to the elevator, "This is you show now, make me proud" he said.

Shepherd gave a sharp salute. "Yes sir" he said proudly. Anderson smiled as the elevator ascended. Shepherd made his way to Normandy with new determination. _'I promise sir, I will make this chance count.'_


	5. Chapter 5: Enter Kaiden

**Chapter 5: Enter Kaiden**

'_Keelah…' _she thought in awe. Tali had known she was going to be on an advance ship, but this exceed even her expectations. It was so much more advanced than in the flotilla; she was like a child in a candy store. She started to bounce on her toes excitedly, a stupid habit she had as a child when she found something interesting. _'This is such a dream come true, a Quarian on such an advance ship, if only father…father...'_ Her thoughts trailed of her father, an admiral of the fleet, a man she had the utmost respect for no doubt, but had some resentment, that her father treated her like one of his soldiers and not like his only daughter. _'Who am I kidding? He wouldn't care; he would probably scold me for wasting so much time and say 'Take your pilgrimage seriously. _I'm_ an admiral, and there's a lot expected of you.''_ She thought bitterly.

She took her pilgrimage seriously, no doubt, all Quarians did, and it was part of the overall survival of her people, but she often wish she could do the things that other races took for granted. _'Who knows? Maybe it could get better, as long as I don't give up, like Shepherd said' _Tali said with a smile. "Rookie? You're still here?" Said a familiar voice. Tali jumped at the voice, only to see it was Shepherd.

"Bosh'tet! Don't do that" she said in surprised anger. Shepherd just sighed and shrugged his shoulders. Tali looked concerned, as short of a time as she knew him, she has never seen him down, making jokes or rude comments yes, but never sad. "Shepherd what's wrong?" she said worried.

Shepherd look at blankly. "You actually worried about me?" he said surprised.

Tali was thankful for the mask, Shepherd couldn't see her blush. "O-of c-course...n-not! I-It's just that we need y-you for the m-mission, I'm sure Captain Anderson would agree" she said nervously.

Shepherd looked pained. "Anderson will not be joining us, from now on the ship is now…mine." He said sadly.

'_Okay, now I know something is wrong' _she thought. "Tell me what happened" Tali said seriously. Shepherd told her about how Anderson was forced to give up the Normandy and that he was now assigned, to be what Shepherd called 'Udina's Paperboy'. Tali was upset at the idea that a captain would be disrespected and replaced like that. In Quarian society the rank of captain was an honored and respected one. Maybe what was the most surprising was how angry Shepherd was about the decision, which meant he was loyal to his captain, he was very much like a quarian. _'Maybe Shepherd would fit with the flotilla, after all' _she thought with a soft smile.

"Thanks for listening to my bitching, rookie" he said with smile.

Tali once again blushed. "Anytime" she said before adding jokingly "though, this is a one-time thing."

Shepherd chuckled softly at that as he left. "Noted, rookie" he said. Tali left to explore the Normandy with a huge grin on her face. As she was walking down the Normandy's CIC Tali felt nervous. She could be bold around Shepherd, after all his personality basically demanded it, but with her new crewmates she wanted to put her best foot forward. There were multiple humans in combat stations to both her sides as she walked, and though she remained facing straight ahead, she could literally feel the humans staring at her. Part of her understood, most of them had never even seen a Quarian in person, however, from some, it was glares she was all too aware of distrust and suspicion.

The looks of suspicion just embolden her, she was something of an oddity among Quarians, while most would just take the abuse, she wouldn't, though it had sometimes gotten her in trouble with others. "Look at me all you want, I'm not leaving and I won't give up" she said proudly. The humans blinked, and stared at the girl like she was crazy and a unconformable silence fell the CIC. _'Maybe too soon' _she thought nervously.

As she was in her thoughts, she heard a voice. "All right, I'm sure that was entertaining, you all have your duties, now get back to it." He said. It was a human male, his skin was tanned, but nowhere near as dark as Shepherd's skin, and he seem to a little older than Shepherd, he came close and greeted her. "When Wayne said we had a firecracker on board, I thought it was one of his bad jokes, but looks like he was right." He said with a smile.

Tali tilted her head in confusion. "Um...Waynne?" she said.

The man rubbed is neck sheepishly. "Sorry, I guess he never told you his first name, I meant Shepherd" he explained.

Tali's eyes widen at the realization. "Oh! Sorry, I need to get a handle on human names" she said embarrassed.

The man just chuckled. "It's alright, my name is Kaiden Alenko, Lieutenant of the Normandy, sorry if Wayne's been trouble for you, he has a rough personality."

Tali giggled at that. '_That's the understatement of the year' _she thought. "Don't worry at this point I'm used to it, I'm Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant Alenko" she greeted the human.

Kaiden raised his hand. "Please just Kaiden, if I can call you Tali, if you want" he said with a smile. _'Wow, he's a lot more polite than Shepherd that's for sure'_ she thought.

"Sure thing, Kaiden, and I go by Tali anyway." She said.

Tali and Kaiden conversed for a while, she was surprised and how friendly he was towards her, even though, she was a Quarians. _'Maybe humans are just less prejudiced, it would make sense, considering how new they were to the galaxy'_ she thought. As she thought about human, her mind drifted to Shepherd, so she decided to ask Kaiden about Shepherd. "Um Kaiden, I was wondering if you could tell me about Shepherd, you seem to know him very well." She said nervously.

Kaiden looked hesitant, but gave her a smile. "You seem like a good person, so what the hell, and you're right I do know him well, we've known each other since our Sentinel Program days."

Tali titled her head at that. "Sentinel Program?" she said.

Kaiden nodded. "Yeah, with in the Alliance we have, six combat classes" he explained. "Based on some preliminary tests, the Alliance put's people in one of the six classes based on their abilities"

"And what is your ability?" Tali asked. Kaiden smirked and grabbed a cup of water off the table; the crewmember gave a disproving look at Kaiden.

"Don't worry, you'll have it back" he said with a smile. The man grunted and went back to work, though Tali saw he was looking warily at his cup. "Now, watch" Kaiden dropped the cup of water, much to the man's and Tali's surprise, but then the cup stopped just before hitting the ground and it was surrounded by a blue light. Kaiden was a biotic; they were people who could manipulate matter with their mind, she had heard some amazing things about what biotics could do in battle. The cup gently floated back to his hand and Kaiden gave the man his cup back.

"Keelah, so you're a biotic, and so is Shepherd?"

Kaiden smirked. "Yep"

"I heard it took focus to develop biotics and Shepherd didn't seem like the focused type" Tali said.

Kaiden chuckled. "Usually he isn't, so ready for the story?" Tali nodded. "Okay, but first let's go somewhere private" Kaiden and Tali went downstairs to the crew quarters and sat at some tables.

"Okay, it all started ten years ago…"


	6. Chapter 6: KaidenShepherd-Sentinel Days

**Chapter 6: Kaiden & Shepherd-Sentinel Days**

_**Ten Years Ago: Luna**_

Kaiden Alenko, age 20, was in the hanger getting ready to greet the new recruits, as a senior of the program; it was his duty to be an example for the new recruits to strive for. As the recruits, flooded the floor, Kaiden examined the new recruits. _'Good, this year's crop looks promising' _he thought with a smile. Kaiden was a serious military man through and through; he got it from his father, Charles Alenko, a veteran of the first contact war with the turians, military was in his blood, although his mom disapproved of his decision, because she almost lost Kaiden's dad in the war. Kaiden was strange compared to the other trainees in the program; because he was one of the first biotics from the old Jump Zero program that was fitted with the faulty L-2 implant. As a result, his biotics was in a class of their own, while most in the program couldn't make a simple barrier without extra training, something members of the Vanguard and Adept could with ease, he could, putting his abilities on par with the two biotic classes.

But those abilities came at a price, chronic headaches that were at times crippling, though he learned to live with it for a while. As he looked around the hanger, he saw one recruit that caught his eye, a dark-skinned with blonde-dyed hair. _'He's kinda cute, for a recruit' _he thought. As the young man went into place with the other recruits, Kaiden caught the man's eyes, they looked so angry, but with a hint of sadness. It was easy enough to spot, a lot kids during the Jump Zero program had them. A lot of them were broken from the beginning and the program seemed good for only breaking them more, he was glad the program was shut down. _'He must have been through a lot, you don't eyes like that unless something terrible happened to you' _he thought. He decided to talk to him after introductions were done. When everyone went into place, he heard a loud booming voice. _'Oh no, they're going to sic that bastard on the recruits' _he thought alarmed.

Sargent Jamal Yousuf aka the 'Shark of Boot Camp' was a man every trainee hated to be trained by especially Kaiden. The man reminded him of the turian, from his Jump Zero days, a man who used any means necessary get a good biotic, even if he had to break them, mind, body, and soul. _'Any means necessary, even if they becomes a husk of their former selves' _he thought bitterly. He glanced at the blonde recruit, worried about him; he knew someone like Yousuf almost always chose the ones who were damaged. _'They always do'_ he thought sadly. He remembered all too well, what that turian, Vyrnnus, did to his friend Rahna, breaking her arm, just because she wanted get a cup of water without getting a nosebleed or his old boyfriend, Aiden, broke him mentally, it was so bad, that he committed suicide weeks later. The large sergeant spoke.

"Alright, you maggots, today you will be training as a Sentinel, and I promise you will it will be painful, beyond imagining." He said with a sadistic smile. He looked at recruits, with a predatory gaze in his eye. The recruits all looked very pale and scared, at the large man's piecing looks. Yousuf showed great pleasure at the recruit's fear, but then glanced at the blonde recruit. The recruit looked back unfazed and stood in front of him. "Look what we have here maggots, a real tough guy, lets show him how we welcome him" he said maliciously. The Sargent grabs the man's collar and forcefully pulled the recruit out of the lineup. Kaiden clenched his fists _'Oh shit'_ Kaiden thought.

The young recruit got off the ground and looked in the Sargent's eyes unblinking, he was not scared. The Sargent focused on the recruit, Kaiden knew this look, he was going to use him as an example, and break him. Kaiden looked at the other instructors, hoping they would step in before it gets serious, the instructors did nothing. _'You just going to let this happen? Spineless every one of you' _he thought angrily. "Come on tough guy, show me what you got" Yousuf said while pushing him. The recruit clenched his fists, becoming very angry. "You're getting angry, good I want you let loose with your biotics, shows us you are a tough guy, and not some Batarian's bitch" he said with a cruel smirk. The recruit glared at Yousuf with murderous gaze and started to faintly glow blue, Kaiden had to step in and stop this, and it was only going to end badly.

"That's enough, this unbecoming of an instructor!" Kaiden yelled. Yousuf looked at Kaiden with venom, he never liked Kaiden, and he felt he was always undermining his authority, questioning his methods. For years, he has tried to use his special methods on him, trying to see the limits of the Sentinel Program's prodigy, but each and every time he was forbidden. In Yousuf's mind, Kaiden was getting special treatment for longest time, Kaiden was getting arrogant, and it was time to put him in his place.

"Senior Alenko, you should speak when spoke to!" Yousuf, charged his biotics, and punched Kaiden. Kaiden fell hard to the ground, but Yousuf wasn't done, walking towards him in a menacing blue glow. The other instructors had seen enough, and came to restrain him with the help of the other trainees. Yousuf, however, was out of control, and blew the instructors and trainees back, and then focused his attention back on Kaiden. _'Shit, I always knew he was a bastard, but he's really looking to kill me'_ he thought alarmed. Kaiden tried to get up, but found his ribs was broken. Yousuf approached Kaiden, his eyes was like that of an animal than a man. _'Shit, I got to do something'_

Out of nowhere a blue field hit Yousuf, it was the blond-haired recruit, he had just saved Kaiden's life. "So, tough guy, going to show me you're not a Batarian's bitch?" he growled. Kaiden felt a sense of déjà vu; this was almost like what happened back at Jump Zero. Shepherd ran at him throwing some biotic throws at the older man, but Yousuf shrugged it off. The recruit put up good fight hitting the Sargent with more and more warp fields, but Yousuf was too much, as his biotics was much stronger. Yousuf blew him back and the recruit hit the wall hard. "Weaklings! All of you! There's no place for you in the Alliance or this life." Yūsuf said becoming more unhinged. Kaiden knew what was coming, the recruit was tired, from using too much of his biotics, Yousuf was moving in for the kill. Kaiden tried to move, but his ribs were screaming in pain.

"Shit! No, Yousuf don't do it!" Kaiden yelled in horror. A shot rang in the air everyone turned to the source the source of the shot. It was none other than, David Anderson, a legend in the Alliance with his Predator, for Yousuf. _'Holy shit! What is Anderson doing here?'_ he thought in awe. Yousuf staggered and clutched his arm and glared at Anderson. Anderson calmly gave his ultimatum, step away from the recruit or die. _'This is a no-brainer, even you're that not stupid, Yousuf.'_ Kaiden thought. Yousuf, however, was not in the right mind, and instead charged at Anderson. Anderson calmly pulled the trigger; it was over for the crazed biotic as two bullets tore through Yousuf's skull, and he dropped dead.

Anderson ran over the recruit, he looked over him with concern. The recruit gave him a nod signaling he was okay, and the made his way over to Kaiden. "You okay?" he asked. Kaiden gave him reassuring smile, but the recruit didn't seem fooled. The medics came in minutes later, to get Kaiden and the injured to the infirmary. Before they took him, Kaiden asked the recruit's name. "My name is Shepherd, Wayne Allen Shepherd" he said with a smile. Kaiden took his hand and shook it, but not without giving his name.

"My name is Kaiden, Kaiden Alenko" he said with a smile. Kaiden didn't know it then, but it would be the start of a friendship and important friendship for the both of them.


	7. Chapter 7: Ship's a Girl's Best Friend

**Chapter 7: Ships, a girl's best friend**

After Kaiden finished his story, Tali was dumbfounded, she couldn't believe a superior officer would do that to people he was responsible for. Back on the fleet, if captain or admiral did what he did they would be exiled. Tali weren't a cruel or violent person, but to her, what Yousuf did to Shepherd and Kaiden he deserved it tenfold. "Did they know what made him snap?" she asked. Shepherd came out and sighed, Tali and Kaiden jumped when they saw him. _'He must have overheard'_ she said nervously.

"Wayne, so you were listening in?" Kaiden asked.

Shepherd crossed his arms. "You guys were speaking so loud, how could I not" he then looked at Tali. "Especially the rookie"

Tali huffed. "I'm not that loud" she said annoyed. "Are you going to answer my question?"

"The autopsy revealed that the dumbass' system was flooded with red sand" he said calmly. Tali had heard about red sand, it was a drug, mostly used by biotics like the asari, because it temporarily booted biotics. She had heard about the side effects of red sand, but it was physical, not mental. Tali looked at Shepherd perplexed, waiting for him to explain. "Red sand is different with human, than with asari, or other races, we don't suffer the physical effects, because our immune systems, but it causes increased aggression, paranoia, and through extended use, psychosis, which is why it is illegal to sell red sand to humans in Citadel Space." He explained._ 'It makes since, considering human have the third strongest immune system after vorcha and Krogan, they're so lucky they don't have to die from a small scratch'_ Tali thought sadly. Shepherd interrupted her thoughts. "Hackett called, he wants us to look for a missing recon team in the Sparta System" He said leaving.

"Wait, what about Saren?" Tali asked.

Shepherd looked back. "Hackett said we'll get info when they know something, for now just stand by" Shepherd left Tali and Kaiden.

Kaiden shrugged his shoulders. "I guess we'll just relax until then, you may want to check with the Gunnery Chief for your weapons and equipment." He said also leaving.

Tali grabbed his arms. "Kaiden where is engineering? I really want to work on this ship's engines."

Kaiden chucked. "It's on the way to the Gunnery Chief, just go behind the elevator and you're there, just remember you have to take the elevator first." He said waving goodbye. Tali went on her way, exploring the ship as went to the chief. She was really amazed, at the ship; it was marvel in not just, beauty, but its technology. _'I can't wait to dive into the systems; I hope this Gunnery Chief is a fast talker' _she thought excitedly. Before going down, she checked in the resident medic, Dr. Karin Chakwas for a check-up. _'Better safe than sorry, something tells me I will be seeing her lot often'_ she was pleasantly surprised at the amount of knowledge, the good doctor showed, about Quarian physiology. _'Considering how similar Quarians and humans are, it shouldn't be a surprised'_

Tali met the Gunnery Chief, Ashley Williams, she knew humans were bigger than Quarians, but Williams' size was downright intimating to the young engineer. "Hello Chief Williams, I'm here about my weapons and equipment" She greeted. The human looked at Tali, but show her the equipment and weapons and how to use some of the human equipment. Ashley was difficult at first, but eventually she warmed up to the young Quarian. Tali liked her, she was a strong woman, but she had sinking feeling that she didn't like aliens as was looking over the turian and krogan, she was suspicious of Wrex and Garrus. _'She seems to be a little prejudiced like the other humans, but hers seems forced, like it was personal, I wonder what happened with her?' _she thought. She hoped Shepherd would help her. She waved goodbye to Ashley, and she nodded in response. She made her way to engineering.

"Wow, this is...Wow" was all she could say. Tali's jaw dropped when she saw the absolutely colossal drive core of the Normandy. _'__Keelah! How is it possible that such a large drive core can fit in a ship this small, the power draw must crazy!'_ Tali thought to herself as she quickly walked over to the railing at the end of the room to get a closer look at it. "This is amazing! I've never seen a drive core like this! "Tali eagerly exclaimed looking over the details of the drive core, "I had no idea Alliance ships were so advanced!" Tali was glad for the mask, it would be hard to explain her drooling over the core. "I must know how this work, I won't be able to sleep if I don't!" she said excitably bouncing on her toes.

"The Tantalus drive generates mass concentrations that the Normandy "falls into", allowing her to move without the use of heat-emitting thrusters. The core not only makes the Normandy quiet and fast, but means she can run at FTL speeds for longer before having to discharge the drive.," a voice said from the behind. Tali jumped and turned around, it was an older human. _'Must be the chief engineer' _she thought. The human smiled and extended his hand. _'Human hands look so strange._ _How do they keep track of all those fingers? Evolution is weird'_ she thought examining the human's shook his hand, it wasn't a common gesture in Quarian culture, so seemed strange, but she thought to make a good impression. "The name is Greg Adams, chief engineer of the Normandy, you are?" he greeted.

"Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, but please just Tali" She said. "If it's okay, I would like to work with you down here"

Adams raised a brow "You any good? I don't just let anyone work on this baby." He said. Tali just smirked as her chest puffed out proudly, if there was one thing she was sure about it was her engineering skills, all quarians were required to work on the engines of the fleets ships, but with her she was the best, even among her people.

"Give me some scrap metal, a circuit board, and some element zero, and I'll have it dancing and making precision jumps." She said with pride. Adams whistled and pulls up a terminal for her to prove it. Tali soon got to work, after a little over two hours, she stepped away and let Adams check her work. Adams blinked, he couldn't believe his eyes; the board was reading fifty percent improvements across. "Well?!" she said excitedly bouncing on her toes.

"I have to say, it's looking damned impressive, if Shepherd oks it, you got the job." He said smiling before adding, "Well speak of the devil." Shepherd came in and greeted Adams, and 'Rookie', she had to admit Shepherd's pet name for her was starting to grow on her, although, she wasn't going to give up getting him to say her name full-time. "Hey Shepherd, amazing little thing you recruited, I wish my guys were half as smart as she is! And twice as fast! You got to let me have her on my team." He said.

Shepherd looked at Tali, and smirked. "So the rookie has other talents, besides getting shot at, good to know" he teased. _'_

Tali huffed at that '_Of course I do, you bosh'tet!, he just love getting under my skin' _she thought. She had caught herself blushing again, it was so infuriating, and why does this happen when he's around? _'He's an idiotic rude bosh'tet, he says a couple of nice words, and I'm blushing like a moron. Why am I still dwelling on that?' _She shook her head waiting for his answer. "Sure why not, if she can handle that and being on the ground team, then I have no problems." He said simply before adding, "Now get to your stations we're leaving for the Sparta System." As Shepherd left, Tali thanked him for this opportunity.

Shepherd looked back at her. "No problem, Tali" he said with a smile.

Tali blinked at that, for the first time since they met he called her by her name. "What did you call me?"

Shepherd smirked. "Tali that is your name, right?" he asked. "See you later"

Tali blushed and just waved. "Bye…."


	8. Chapter 8: Maw vs Mako

**Chapter 8: Maw vs. Mako**

_Edolus is a terrestrial planet with an atmosphere of carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Edolus' surface is covered by wide deserts of silicate sand, with only a few areas of igneous rock highlands to break the abrasive, dust-choked wind. _

_Edolus' orbit is congested with debris thrown inwards by the gravity of the gas giant Ontamalca. Due to a high rate of meteor impacts, exploration is highly dangerous.-Codex_

Shepherd groaned. "Rock, rock, and more rock" he said annoyed. The team landed on Edolus, looking for the missing recon team per Hackett's orders. Although if it was up to Shepherd he would want to go after Saren, but until then this was the most action he was getting. "How do we know they're even alive?"

"Admiral Hackett said the team had set up a distress beacon, so maybe one or all of them lived, I'm not seeing it on radar." Garrus said.

Kaiden sighed. "So, we're doing this the hard way…Garrus can you find the camp?"

Garrus nodded and worked his three fingers on the board, to look for the beacon. "Got it, lucky for us their camp close to our location; updating nav point" Shepherd nodded and drove west to the recon team's camp and the team did some investigating. The camp had looked like it went through a tornado.

"Looks like hell. Think someone attacked them?" Shepherd asked.

"Probably some mercs or pirates, but Hackett wasn't exactly clear on what happened" Kaiden said. Garrus called them and Shepherd and Kaiden met with him. The turian was crouched down; it looked like he found something.

"Tire tracks" Garrus said. "From the looks of it, it was going towards the south west area"

Kaiden frowned. "So they were attacked, but the question is…"

"By who or what?" Shepherd asked. "Everyone back to the mako" The Mako made its way to the southwest area, climbing over mountains and handling other rough terrain was no problem for the mako, the new baby in Shepherd's life. As they had gotten closer, Shepherd could see something in the horizon, it looked like smoke, and smoke could only mean one thing, bad news. He hauled ass to the site, until they saw a burning M29 Grizzly, several dead marines, and a transmitter.

"Kaiden, on the guns, Garrus, radar" Shepherd ordered. "Whatever did this is still out there?" Kaiden and Garrus nodded and prep themselves for a possible sneak attack. Shepherd cautiously drove to the beacon, until the ground stated to shake. And then the ground grew calm again, much to the relief of the team.

"Earthquake?" Kaiden said.

Garrus shook his head. "Can't be, I wasn't reading any seismic activity, too small" All of a sudden the ground shook again, this time, stronger than last time. The mako was rocked as the tank was sent flying in the air. Shepherd activated the thrusters to gain some control back, the mako flipped into the air and luckily landed on its wheels.

"What the hell was that?!" Shepherd asked.

"I don't know, but it just took out thirty present of our shields!" Kaiden said trying to recharge the Mako's shields.

Garrus paled. "There's only on creature I can think of that can flip a six ton tank like that" he said nervously... "Shepherd, we need to move now! I think we just drove on…" Another rumble happen and to their side was a large worm-like creature and it looked hungry.

"A Thresher Maw nest!" Thresher Maws were subterranean carnivores that spend their entire lives eating or searching for something to eat. They are enormous, violent creatures that burst up from the ground without warning when disturbed. The maw looked at them and spit out a greyish-green fluid from its mouth. Without thinking, Shepherd pressed a button and activated the thrusters, allowing the Mako to jump over the projectile. When the fluid landed, it dissolved a large boulder like it was nothing.

"Shit! Acid!" Shepherd stepped on it and mako ran away from the Maw before it could spit more acid at them. Kaiden activated the guns and for the maw and fired, but the maw disappeared into the ground.

"Keep moving! The maw could be anywhere!" Garrus said. Sure enough the turian was right and the maw breached, almost hitting the tank. Shepherd couldn't afford to get hit a second time, and as the maw spit its acid out, Shepherd drove like crazy to make sure they don't get hit. Kaiden gave up on the small guns, it was bouncing off the maw like it was nothing, and he switched to the main gun and targeted the maw. Mako's cannon fired and hit the maw dead on, the worm like creature let out a huge piercing cry and went after them harder this time. Kaiden continued to pepper the maw hard with the cannon, until eventually the screech of the maw was no more.

The team sat there, trying to catch their breath, Shepherd had wanted some action, and he had gotten it ten-fold. "Garrus, status report"

"No activity…I think that was the only Thresher Maw in the area…uh thanks the spirits" Garrus said tiredly. Shepherd drove the mako to the beacon and the dead soldiers. But something in his gut said that something was not right.

"Wayne" Shepherd looked at Kaiden and walked over to him. "This beacon wasn't theirs; look at the dirt on it, this beacon has been here for at least a month"

Shepherd frowned. "Which means they were lured by the beacon" he said. "Let's shut down this beacon and contact Hackett, he needs to hear this" Garrus shut down the beacon and went back to the Mako, to wait for the Normandy.

Later on the ship, Shepherd made his report to Admiral Hackett, to say he was disturbed by this was an understatement. Hackett pinched the bridge of his nose. "So a Thresher Maw killed him, Kohoku is not going to be happy by this, he's like a father to his men"

"What about the beacon? It reeks of foul play" Shepherd said.

"Alliance Command is already starting its investigation" Hackett said. "Though, whoever did this, made sure their tracks were covered, we shouldn't turn up anything for a while"

Shepherd frowned a little, it was the kind of answer he expected from Hackett, he respected Hackett, not as much as Anderson, but close. He got stuff done, although, something he felt like Hackett knew more than he was letting on. Shepherd sighed. "Okay, any info on Saren?"

"Udina and Anderson are working on a lead, dealing with Saren's partner Matriarch Benezia" Hackett said. "I'll contact you with any info I get from them, until then the Alliance would like your help again"

Shepherd crossed his arms. "What? Am I the Alliance's errand boy now?" he asked annoyed.

"No, you're a spectre, an agent of the Citadel Council, however you were human and with the Alliance before that, don't forget that"

Shepherd groaned and scratched his head. "Going to pull that, huh?" he asked. "Okay, what is it?" The screen changed and Shepherd frowned at the data presented to him. "Hackett, this is…"

"Yes, Major Kyle, your commanding officer from Torfan, has set up a small compound in the Hawking Era Cluster. He's attracted a number of biotic followers" Hackett said. "He's been an outspoken critic of the Alliance and we think he's mentally unstable…this is trouble Shepherd"

Shepherd didn't like the sound of that, it sounded a little too close to an assassination mission. But before he could speak, Hackett continued. "If you need proof of why you should do this, read more into the data that is all" he said. "Hackett out" Shepherd downloaded the data into his omni-tool and went to his room. He sat down in his chair and opened the data, two Alliance negotiators were sent to speak to Kyle and convince him to receive treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, but Kyle decided they were a threat, and they were killed by members of the commune. However, the commune is in fact a cult, with the biotics referring to him as "Father Kyle" According to the data, Kyle, never a biotic himself, was likely seen by the cultists as a protector, and through 'protecting' them, Kyle was able to lessen his guilt over the events at Torfan.

Shepherd sighed. "Goddamn it…" Shepherd the opened his com. "Joker, get us to the Hawking Era Cluster"

"Got it Commander"


	9. Chapter 9: The Major and The Butcher

**Chapter 9: The Major and the Butcher**

Shepherd was in the crew deck at his locked, getting ready for the possible chance of putting down his former CO, as he gotten ready, he couldn't get the memories of Torfan out of his head.

_"Shepherd, what the hell were you thinking? You almost jeopardized the mission for a girl?" _

_"She's not just a girl, my sister!"_

_"What about you? Come with us" _

_"Are you willing to die to save your sister?"_

_"Yes I am, I won't let her go through that hell again"_

_"Then, go, I'll hold them off"_

_"Wayney…" _

_"Don't worry, we'll be…."_

_"K-Kyoko, please stay with me…Nonononono, w-we were supposed to be family again, please, sis open your eyes, PLEASE!"_

_"Give up, human"_

_"Die…"_

"Shepherd" His thoughts were interrupted by a voice, Shepherd looked back and saw Tali with a shotgun in tow. "Ready to go"

Shepherd went back to equipping himself. "You're not coming"

"What? Why?" Tali asked.

"Alliance business" Shepherd said. A lame excuse, considering his last mission, but for some reason he couldn't bear to let her see, his shame, and Torfan was his greatest shame. Tali didn't seem to be convinced about his excuse, either.

Tali crossed her arms. "That last mission was Alliance business and Garrus went along with you" She said. "So what's the real reason?" Shepherd ignored her and went to the elevator to get ready for the mission, he was about to get on it, until Tali grabbed his arm. "Shepherd, do you trust me?"

"This isn't a matter of trust, this is personal, so drop it" Tali let him go, taken aback by how he's acting. Shepherd would regret what he said, but not now, now he had to focus on Kyle. He went down to the lower deck and met up with Kaiden and Ashley, who were ready for the mission. "Move out"

"Yes sir!"

_Presrop is the moon of Klendagon. It is a frigid, barren world, with an extremely thin atmosphere of carbon dioxide and ethane. The crust contains plentiful deposits of heavy metals. The Alliance has opened bidding for the moon's mineral rights, but exploitation will be complicated by the system's proximity to the "Five Kiloparsec Ring" around the galactic core. The Ring is an area of intense star formation, and too dangerous to safely travel. _

_Presrop's landscape is a nightmare of jagged, overlapping ridges and geological shock zones created by some ancient disaster. This has not deterred a generation of illegal "wildcat miners" from attempting to exploit the moon's mineral riches. Unfortunately, many have lost their lives.-Codex_

"Wayne, approaching the compound…" Kaiden said. Shepherd nodded and parked the Mako beside the compound. The team got out of the Mako and walked over to the building. "Any orders?"

"Don't start shooting until we've exhausted all plans" Shepherd said. "The Major, needs help, not a squad pounding on his door" Ashley looked at Shepherd, usually the spectre was all gung ho with marching into battle, to see him so careful…there was more to this.

"Shepherd, forgive me if this is too personal, but who is Major Kyle to you?" She asked. Kaiden looked at Shepherd worriedly, he knew Torfan was a tender spot for him, but surprisingly just sighed.

"Kyle was my CO on Torfan, things went bad there, and he was never the same" Shepherd said softly. "He's my responsibility…." They made it to the door and pressed the intercom, the voice that came out was distrustful and almost held venom for the team.

"This is a private sanctuary, outsiders are not welcomed here" the voice said. "Especially the Alliance"

"I'm here, to speak with Major Kyle, it's important" Shepherd said.

"There is no Major Kyle here, only Father Kyle, Alliance Dogs!" the voice said angrily.

"Look, my name is Wayne Allen Shepherd, I served with him on Torfan, Father Kyle will know me" he said. There was silence on the comm, Shepherd hoped that he didn't mess up by dropping his name. Then the comm came to life, and the man spoke once more.

"Father Kyle will speak to you, but he wants you alone, your companions cannot come with you"

"Like he…"

Shepherd raised his hand to get Ashley to stop talking. "I'll do it"

"Come in, and if you try to harm Father Kyle, you will die" Shepherd nodded, and looked back at his team; both of them had a nervous look on their faces. The door opened up and Shepherd took a deep breath and went inside, leaving Kaiden and Ashley. Once inside, Shepherd found himself very cautious around the cultists, as Kyle's followers eyes followed him everywhere, one wrong move and he could stir up a hornet's nest. He walked to the back of the base and the door opened.

There was the Major, surrounded by members of his loyal, 'children' with guns pointed at him. Kyle raised his arm and the cultists lowered their weapons. Shepherd was impressed, even after all these years, he could still move people. "Leave my children, I will handle this"

One of the cultists looked at Kyle. "Are you sure father?" Kyle nodded and the cultists hesitantly left the room, never taking their eyes of Shepherd. It was just Shepherd and Kyle now. Kyle looked at Shepherd, and his face twisted into the most uncomfortable frown.

"It's been a long time Shepherd, or would you rather go by your other name the Butcher of Torfan" Shepherd flinched at the name; he did not like it then or now. "Why are you here? Why can't the Alliance leave us alone?"

Shepherd shook his head. "You know why I'm here, Major, you killed two Alliance personnel" he said. "The Alliance wants the heads of you and your children; I'm the only thing standing between raid on this place…"

"You don't understand Shepherd! They had to die, they spoke of such blasphemy!" Kyle said. "They wanted me to leave, to abandon my home and family" Shepherd was taken aback at how unhinged his voice had gotten; it was a far cry from the strong calm voice he had when Shepherd was under his command.

"Major, this has gotten out of hand! The Alliance sent me in to bring you in" Shepherd said. "Can't you see you're endangering your followers?"

"Maybe…this has…" Kyle then shook his head. "No, this is a trick, you want to take away their father, make my children helpless…."

"Major, don't you understand coming with me is only chance you got, if I fail the Alliance will hunt you down!" Shepherd said. "You say you care for your children, then prove it…come with me and the Alliance will show mercy, I'll make sure of it promise"

"Maybe you're right…I never wanted to put my children in danger…they are innocent, pure" Kyle said.

"You're doing the right thing, come on"

Kyle shook his head. "Wait, let me explain to my children first, please…if they see you taking me out they will attack, give me one hour"

Shepherd nodded. "Okay, I'll trust you, I'll have the fifth fleet pick you up" Shepherd began to walk away, until Kyle spoke up.

"Thank you, I was wrong about you Shepherd, I can see now that you were just as hunted by Torfan as I was, my peace be with you Commander"

"And to you Major" Shepherd left the compound and met with Kaiden and Ashley who were pacing the ground with worry. "So, who died?" he asked jokingly. Kaiden and Ashley saw Shepherd and ran to him.

"Wayne, are you alright?" Kaiden asked concerned. "We were getting worried"

"Is Kyle…?" Ashley asked.

"He gave up, he's talking to his followers now" Shepherd said.

"That's a surprise, I would have thought he was too far gone…."

Shepherd shook his head. "No, I don't think so, I think he was looking for a way out"

"So what now?" Kaiden asked.

"We call the fifth fleet and put this whole thing behind us" Shepherd said. "Let's get back to the Normandy" Back on the Normandy, Shepherd gave his briefing to Admiral Hackett, he was surprised to say the least at the outcome of this incident.

"I don't know how you did it, but we sent in a team and Kyle's group has disbanded peacefully, we'll make sure he and his people get the help they need" Hackett said. "To be honest, Shepherd I thought this was going to end in a blood bath, but it seem calling you was the right thing, Congratulations on this victory, Shepherd, Hackett out"

Shepherd went down to the crew deck, he was in a pretty good mood, because of his success on the mission. There he saw Tali eating some kind of tube, and went to join her. "You know, that doesn't look very filling, I'm sure Garrus will share if you ask him"

"I'm just fine with this, thank you" Shepherd knew this standoffish behavior was because of how he was acting; he knew exactly what to do.

"Rookie, sorry for my attitude earlier, I was an ass" Shepherd said. Tali just went along eating her paste; she was going to make it hard for him. Shepherd groaned and rubbed his head, until he gotten an idea. "Hey rookie, tell me about your people" Tali eyes then started to light up, and Shepherd smirked. '_Bingo'_


	10. Chapter 10a: Therum pt1

Note: All story mission chapters from the Mass Effect games will be one chapter split into parts. Thank you and please enjoy.

**Chapter 10a: Therum part 1**

Therum, a small mining colony in the Artemis Tau cluster and to Shepherd hotter than Satan's balls, if there was a candidate for hell on earth, Therum would be the place. _'What the hell is a Prothean Archeologist doing in a place like this?' _he thought. It had been three hours since touched down on the colony, and already they had to deal with the welcoming committee. Luckily, Shepherd's baby, the M-35 Mako, tore through the geth without any problems, although both Kaiden and Tali were complaining about his driving.

"Backseat drivers…great" he muttered. The team made it to a natural blockade, and had to go on foot, much to Tali and Kaiden's relief. "Hey, my driving wasn't that bad." He complained. Tali and Kaiden glared at him.

"A drunken varren could drive better than you, Shepherd." Tali said close to vomiting into her helmet. Kaiden nodded his head in agreement.

"Oh haha" Shepherd said annoyed.

"Maybe someone else should drive…next time" Kaiden said.

Shepherd frowned and hugged the mako tightly. "No one's touching my baby but me"

Kaiden and Tali rolled their eyes at Shepherd's love for the tank, they would never understand how much he loved riding the tank, although, even he had to begrudgingly admit the Mako was a mixed blessing. It enabled him to jump the tank over obstacles and even a few rockets, a feat that would be impossible without the tank's element zero core. It could also compensate for variations in gravity between planets, ensuring that it'd handle the same way no matter where he drove it. However the light weight made it hard as hell to control, even with years of experience. "At least you fight better, than you drive." She teased.

Shepherd smirked a little at that. It had been close to a month, since Tali had join the Normandy crew and she was fitting quite well, except for that argument she had with Pressly, the Normandy's XO, about aliens on the ship.

_**Two weeks ago.**_

_"What you say bosh'tet?!" Tali asked angrily_

_"You don't belong here, this is a human mission only" Pressly said. "We don't your kind here"_

_"I'm here because Shepherd wants me here!"_

_"How do we know you aren't sending schematics of the Normandy's technology back to your people? It's classified Alliance information!" He said. Tali clenched her fists; it was the same no matter where she was, the so-called beggar and the thief. Pressly had been hostile to the aliens from the beginning, but most of that had been pointed at her, she ignored at first, but there only so much you could take before the hostility got under your skin. _

_"Listen you bosh'tet, I am NOT a thief!" She yelled out, pointing at Pressly, "I've never once stolen anything! Nothing! And I don't intend on stealing anything from the Normandy!"_

_Pressly snorted. "It's only words if you can't prove it to me" . The crew was getting nervous with their argument, if something wasn't done, a fist fight would ensue. A voice rang out, a very angry voice._

_"Hey, what the fuck is going on here?!" Shepherd asked angryly. Tali and Pressly was silent, almost afraid to say anything, Shepherd was most cool with people doing their own thing, he even didn't mind crewmates fraternizing among each other, but if the peace and stability of the team's unity was threaten, he could be scarier than any geth "Well?"_

_"Commander, I don't trust her, we all know about her people's reputation, plus we should do this alone!" Pressly said._

_"You arrogant Bosh'tet!"_

_"Enough, this is my ship Pressly, meaning she stays, if you don't like it you can transfer to another ship" Shepherd said. _

_Pressly sighed. "Of course Commander..." _

_Tali smirked until Shepherd spoke up. "And since you two like wasting my fucking time arguing, you can two can make up that time with latrine duty" Tali and Pressly blinked._

_"W-what?!"_

_"B-but I didn't do anything!" Tali said._

_"My ship my rules…" Shepherd said with a smirk. "I would get it done now, oh and I do believe Wrex was in there not too long ago, enjoy..."_

That little stunt was to get Tali and Pressly working together, and it had work, unfortunately he had to deal with Tali's silent treatment for a few days. That girl was hard to handle at times, but that what made her interesting. Shepherd then found himself blushing and then shook his head. _'What hell was that?'_ A shot rang out, snapping him to attention. "Sniper, get to cover" he ordered. Kaiden, Tali, and he scrambled to the nearest cover. The snipers fired at the group with increasing accuracy.

It was a risk; he looked around cover and counted the snipers. "Six snipers shouldn't be problem if we each take two" Shepherd said. Kaiden and Tali nodded in agreement. "Alright move out" he said. The three members, scrambled to differ cover, Tali in the east, Kaiden in the south, and Shepherd in the north. Tali sabotaged the geth on the right of her, making the geth's weapon overheat and explode taking his ally with it. "Nice job, rookie" Shepherd yelled as he threw two of the geth off the ledge. Kaiden lifted his two geth opponents along with a flammable canister, and shot the canister destroying the two geth. _'Showoff'_ he thought with a smirk. The group regrouped and moved on to an opened area. It was quiet, too quiet; the group was on high alert.

"Shepherd, this doesn't fill right, the geth is up to something" Kaiden said. Shepherd nodded in agreement and gave the order stick close. "Get down!" Kaiden said alarmed. A rocket flew towards the group; Kaiden threw up a huge barrier, protecting the group. The red geth rocket trooper was joined by more of its type and new types of geth they never seen before.

"What the hell is that?" Shepherd asked looking at Tali. Tali shrugged her shoulder as she didn't know. "Great..." he muttered before adding, "Kaiden get us to cover, we'll give firing support."

Tali and Shepherd tried to shoot the strange new geth, but they were too fast. Shepard's next attempts against the enemy, using biotics, proved less successful as he had hoped for, however, the Commander did not manage a very powerful throw that took out some snipers. A rocket trooper fired a rocket that hit shattered Kaiden's barrier and scattered the group to the floor.

"Rookie, get to cover and hack those rocket trooper" he ordered. Tali got to cover and hack the trooper turning it against its former allies, thanks to their targeting the new agile geth couldn't escape this time . Kaiden and Shepherd both lifted the new geth units with biotics and sabotaged the units, causing them to explode and taking its allies with it. "Shit more geth are coming, they're like cockroaches" he growled. Any hope of a quick battle soon vanished. The geth were slowly being killed, one by one, and it was getting tedious.

Kaiden was getting worried, the battle was dragging on and they were running out of medi-gel. "Shepherd at the rate this is going..." Kaiden began, but did not get to finish. A bullet pierced his faltering shields and hit him in the shoulder. Kaiden immediately let himself drop to the ground, holding the wounded body part. "Shit!" he blurted out.

"Kaiden! That's it new plan, rookie sabotage those geth, I'll use my grenades to finish them off, stand by for now." he ordered. Tali nodded and waited for his order. Shepherd crouched down to his friend. "Fall back and stay down in cover, for now" he said with concern. Kaiden nodded.

"Rookie, go give them everything you got" he ordered. Tali widened her sabotage field and armed the program making all weapons explode in their holder's hands. Shepherd finished with the coup de grâce, a grenade between two explosive crates. "I think we got them all, nice job rookie" Shepherd said.

After a quick application of med-gel and a fresh battery pack for his shields, Kaiden was able to rejoin the battle. "Must you call me a rookie, I did just save your skin after all," she teased. Kaiden rolled his shoulders, and stared at the two joking with each other and smiled. "What?" Tali said noticing Kaiden's smile.

"You two make a cute couple" he said with a smile. Both Shepherd and Tali looked at each other and blushed.

"S-shut up Kaiden, you're reading too much into this" Shepherd stuttered still blushing.

"Y-yeah, why would I be interested in Shepherd, he's a rude bosh'tet" Tali said nervously. Shepherd looked at her.

"Hey I resent that, rookie" Shepherd said almost hurt.

"Well its true" she shot back.

Kaiden smirked. "See, even your lover's quarrel is cute" he joked.

"**S-shut u-up, Kaiden!**" Tali and Shepherd said at the same time. Kaiden saw them walk away stiffly and smiled. As a Kaiden went to catch up two them, a siege pulse knocked them to their feet.

"Shit, geth armatures get to cover!" he ordered. The three scattered to the cover, but as Tali was getting close to cover, a siege pulse her to the ground hard. _'No...Nononono' _he thought in horror. Shepherd's blood ran cold, she wasn't moving. "**TALI!"** The geth attempted to fire at the quarian again, but Shepherd threw a grenade to stun it, he went over to Tali and picked her up, shielding her from further harm. Shepherd got back to Kaiden and set her gently on the ground.

"Take care of her" Shepherd said standing up.

Kaiden looked at Shepherd. "Wayne, what are you going to do?" He looked at Shepherd's determined face, and his eyes went wide. "Are you crazy? you can't stop that armature alone" Shepherd ignored him and went into battle.

"You idiot!" Kaiden said. He then opened his comm. "Normandy, this is Kaiden, we need back up, now!"


	11. Chapter 10b: Therum pt2

Note: Mass Effect: B&B will be on hiatus for little while, so I can make up new stories. Think of it, as a midseason finale for fanfic. If you have any ideas for going forward, I welcome it. Thank you and enjoy.

**Chapter 10b: Therum part 2**

_It was dark, Tali found herself in the crowded corridors she was all too familiar with; it was the Rayya, her birthship. "Why am I back here?" she asked. The ship was busy with life, just like before she left for her pilgrimage, but Tali felt very uneasy, something about this was familiar, but not the good kind. "Why does this feel so-nononono Keelah no!" she said in fear. It was the day she would never forget, the day that haunted her dreams, the day she lost her mother. _

_It was a Quarian's greatest fear; the sound of silence, what Tali listened to every time she tried to go to sleep on the Normandy, but unlike the Normandy it often meant some vital machinery had broken down. The Quarians on the ship started to panic, trying to find what was wrong, but Tali knew, an air filter had broken down. The Quarians in front of her collapsed, one by one, including her mother. Tali tried run towards her, trying desperately to prevent a second tragedy, but as she moved the woman moved farther and farther from her grasp. "Please, don't leave me!" she screamed._

_It was all for naught, she couldn't save her, just like before. She fell to her knees, sobbing, just like she did six years ago when she saw her mother's body. She was then moved to another familiar place; in front of her was a Quarian male, her father. "Why? Why did you leave her when she needed you?!" she asked in anger. Her father was silent." Why couldn't you be there for once when I was cradling her lifeless body?" she asked softly. Her father turned away. "Answer me!" she screamed. The Quarian man disappeared, leaving Tali alone again crying._

"_Get up rookie, I know you're stronger than that," said a familiar voice. It was a voice she recognized, a voice she was falling for. It was Shepherd, reaching his hand out for her. _

"_Shepherd…" she simply said. She was reaching for his hand, until crimson red blood splattered on her mask. Tali's eyes went wide in horror; she saw a metallic hand impale Shepherd through his heart. __**"NO!"**__ she screamed. Shepherd fell into her arms, his blood staining her enviosuit. "Please, don't leave me…not you too…please" she said weakly holding his body tightly. She looked up, seeing the monster that killed the man she was falling in love with. A geth. Her people's sworn enemy, her sworn enemy. All that could be heard in the darkness was a scream of a lone Quarian._

"Tali please wake up" Kaiden said worried. Kaiden was trying to revive Tali after she was knocked out, by the geth armatures, by order of Shepherd. To his surprise, Tali shot up screaming. "Whoa, Tali, you're alright, you're safe now" Kaiden said softly. Tali was breathing heavily, during her nightmare, everything seemed so real. _'Just a dream..it's only a dream...' _she thought. As she calmed down, Tali asked for Shepherd. "He's over there, the idiot actually tried to take on a geth armatures by himself" he said pointing to the north.

Tali looked at blankly. "That bosh'tet did what?! Why didn't you stop him?!" Tali asked angrily. Kaiden wave his hand alarmed, he told her that Shepherd ordered him to stay in cover and make sure she was safe, while he took one the armatures alone. Kaiden also told her that tried to help by calling Garrus from the Normandy as backup. Tali was livid at Shepherd risking his life-like that for her carelessness. When she saw Shepherd, she got up and stormed over and punched him hard. "YOU BOSH'TET! Don't you ever do that again! Of all the reckless-" Tali said angrily. The next move from him surprised her, he hugged her tightly. Kaiden and Garrus looked at them surprised. Tali blushed , but stayed in his embrace. _'You stupid bosh'tet you're going to be the death of me, scaring me like that' _she thought holding him tightly. They then remembered that Kaiden and Garrus was there and broke the hug looking at each other sheepishly.

Shepherd cleared his throat. "Are you okay?"

Tali blushed. "I am now" she said softly.

The team went into the mine, once inside the team became wary of ambushes by the geth. Inside the mine the littered with not just human tech, but old tech, some dating back millenniums, Garrus crouched down to exam it. "Prothean tech, we're on the right path" said Garrus. It was Shepherd's choice to let Garrus stay with the current team to be back-up for when Tali weren't fully one-hundred percent. The group stopped at the sight dead bodies of humans and asari, littered the cavern's floor, from the looks of it they didn't notice until it was too late. _'Looks like a warzone here' _Tali thought. The cavern also contained geth, but they didn't seem to notice the team's presence. "Shepherd I hate say it, but we may be too-"Garrus was interrupted by a meek voice.

"Um hello? Please help!" the tiny voice said. The group looked up and saw an asari in a blue energy field. _'So she did survive'_ she thought

"Shut it, you want alert every geth in here" Shepherd said.

"Sorry," the asari replied, her voice quieter, "I'm a little... look; my name is Dr. Liara T'Soni, I'm a prothean archeologist, please help me."

"Hold it, first I want to know, whose side you are on" Shepherd asked suspiciously.

"Side? I'm not on anyone side, the geth attacked me, my team, and the miners out of nowhere." She said still shaken. The team look at each other confused. _'The geth attacked her? She's the daughter of Saren's ally'_ Tali thought. The team spoke among one another to discuss this predicament.

"What you guys think?" Shepherd asked.

Kaiden crossed his arms. "It could be a trap…"

"It's a pretty poor trap, I'd say, we should let her out" Tali said.

"I agree with Tali, besides our asari here seem like she would be a very bad liar" Garrus said. Shepherd looked at Kaiden, who just shrugged his shoulders, it looks like they were going release her. Shepherd looked back the Liara.

"Hang tight, we'll get you out" Shepherd said.

"Thank the goddess!" The team hushed the asari. "Oh sorry…" The team went to find the way to get Liara out of there. As the group tried to get the asari out they were attacked by the geth, but thanks to an extra tech expert, the battle was quick. They found their way to a mining laser.

"Think we use can this?" Shepherd asked. Tali went to look at the laser, and then looked at Liara prison; no way were they going to free her any other way. She put the laser on the medium setting, as not to make the mines unstable. "Rookie?"

"Shh, I'm working…" She imputed the last command and the laser turned on and fired underneath Liara's prison. Dust immediately erupted from the hit wall, pouring forth in every direction, obscuring everyone's vision. When the dust finally settled the laser had cleared a hole in the rock, opening a way to one of the prothean chambers.

"Done"

Shepherd nodded. "Everyone in" Kaiden and Garrus nodded went into the tunnel. Tali went in last. "Nice one, rookie, what would we do without you?"

Tali smiled. "Give me time, I'll think of something" she joked.

Shepherd smirked. "Smartass" Tali went in and Shepherd could help but watch her as she walked in, Shepherd started to blush and shook his head and went into the tunnel. The team made their way to an elevator, which led to the asari. They released her from her prison, only to feel rumblings, the mine was coming down.

"These ruins are not stable," Liara said alarmed. "What did you do?"

"Nothing, just fired the mining laser, it was the only way to get to you" Kaiden said.

The asari paled. "Please tell me you didn't put the laser on anything higher than low" The team looked at Tali.

"Uh, oops" she said.

"Shit, let's move!" he said. Liara used the terminal near them and the elevator was set in motion, Shepard used the intercom to call the Normandy. The elevator reached the top fairly quickly only to greet them with an unpleasant surprise: At the edge of the top-level stood a huge, yellow-skinned krogan, surrounded by geth. Shepard grabbed T'Soni and put her behind himself. He shouted to everybody to take cover, except there was none. They were on an open, circular elevator platform, with nothing that could give them any sort of protection.

"So, got a plan Shepherd?" Garrus asked.

"Wipe them the fuck out!"

The battle didn't last too long, the geth didn't stand a chance with four tech experts and with Liara's unexpected help the krogan fell in no time at all. The group ran out at break neck pace, dodging rocks and broken equipment. Finally they reached a ramp that led outwards. They reached the exit and in front of them, waiting for them, was the Normandy, ready and ready for take-off. The Normandy sped off the planet.

The group was in the airlock, exhausted. Tali looked at Shepherd and Shepherd looked back. They both blushed, because they knew they were going to have an very awkward conversation later.


	12. Chapter 11: The Williams Curse

**Chapter 11: The Williams Curse**

"Okay, dear, now just stay here and I'll complete your test" Dr. Chakwas said. Liara nodded and did as she told. While she waited on Chakwas, the med-bay door open and in came Shepherd. Liara looked over Shepherd as he talked to the doctor; the asari hadn't much contact with humans, and didn't know much about them. But the galactic community saw humans as stubborn, impulsive, ambitious, and violent, things she could see in Shepherd, but not the other one that save her. _'Maybe humans are just different'_

Shepherd then looked at her and Liara stiffened as the human walked over to her. "Y-Yes…?" Shepherd just smiled and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Relax, Liara, you're among friends" he said. Liara relaxed a little, despite being a brutal soldier, Shepherd had been rather kind to the asari since she came on the ship, but she wasn't really surprised the ship had a really calm atmosphere despite hunting down Saren and her mother. Liara then grew sad, _'Mother…' _

"Thank you for being kind to me, Commander, but I know why you are here" Liara said sadly. "Please believe me when I say, I don't know why Benezia turned traitor, for I have not seen her for over fifty years"

Shepherd nodded. "Saw right through me, huh?" he asked. Shepherd sighed. "So back at square one, but what about you?"

"Pardon?" Liara said.

"Well, you're basically a civilian, and I'm not a big fan of endangering civilians" Shepherd said. "But there's also no guarantee, that Saren won't stop looking for you…" Liara hadn't considered that, after all she was the prothean expert, and geth came specifically for her. Saren was after something that required her abduction, and plus there was her mother, Benezia. What did she hope to gain by joining Saren? What could have changed her? She needed answers, so there was only one course.

"If there is no guarantee, then I shall join you" Liara said.

"You sure? This won't be a picnic, and plus we may run into your mother eventually" Shepherd said.

"I know, but I want to know why she joined, and maybe try to save her" Liara said.

Shepherd nodded and thought for a moment. "Okay…you can join, but you'll be training under me, Ashley, and Garrus" he said. "You seem to rely on your biotics only, we're going to break you of that" Liara gulped at the way he smiled at that, despite not knowing much about humans, she has heard rumors about how they trained their soldiers, how they break them down to be incredible fighting machines that matched the turians in combat. She hoped they were just rumors.

"Shepherd, do stop scaring the poor girl" Chakwas scolded. Shepherd smirked a little.

"Don't worry, mom, it won't hurt…much…" Liara paled as Chakwas sighed, shook her head, and went back to work. "I'm kidding, Liara, it'll just be the basics, no harm, no foul, so I would suggest you rest up, 'cause we're starting tomorrow" Liara nodded and walked back in the cot that Chakwas let her have.

"Shepherd, while I do think it's nice of you to offer to train her, I have to ask…." Chakwas started. Shepherd looked at her. "You did ask Garrus and Ashley, right?"

"Not yet, but I'm going to" Shepherd said. He walked out of the med-bay, but not before walking into someone, and that someone was Tali. Shepherd blushed. "R-Rookie…ah…what are you doing…here?"

Tali had gotten off the floor and looked away from him, blushing also. "J-Just seeing Dr. Chakwas, for a headache…."

"Of course, dear" Chakwas went to her compartment and took out a green vial full of liquid and gave it to Tali. "This is a dextro pain relief medicine I picked up at the Citadel, just two teaspoons of this when you feel a headache, and if you have any problems, you report to me and I'll check up on you"

Tali nodded while Shepherd looked at her with a concerned look on his face; he still remembered the nasty fall she took when she was attack by a Geth Armature. He shook his head; he would rather not think about it. "You okay…need any…help…?"

"N-No…I'm fine, honest…" Tali went back to engineering, while Dr. Chakwas was chuckling a little. Shepherd looked at her with an annoyed look on his face.

"What?"

"Aw, nothing, just you and Tali reminding me how young love can be so cute at times" Shepherd blushed and glared at her, but the doctor just smiled.

"I'm just making sure, my team is fit and able, that's all…" Shepherd said defiantly.

"Then why are you blushing?"

His face had gotten a lot redder and he walked to the elevator, not before hearing Chakwas chuckle again. While waiting getting to the lower deck, Shepherd huffed and blushed. "Stupid Chakwas, it's not like that at all…." Shepherd gotten to the lower deck and found Garrus and told him about the situation, he was surprised that Liara decided to stay, but eventually agreed to help train her. Now all that was left was Ashley. He went up to the Gunnery Chief, who was talking on the comm, another young woman could be heard.

"…Oh, before I go, you're serving with Commander Shepherd? We saw him on the news here. He's cute; better grab him while you still can, later sis"

"So I'm cute, glad to see someone has taste" Ashely paled and stiffened up, she looked back and saw Shepherd with a shit-eating grin. Ashley palmed her face.

"Tell me you didn't here that…." She said grimly. Shepherd just smirked, and Ash sighed. "Of course you did…shoot me now" Shepherd sat down beside her. "One of my sisters, Sarah, the youngest, surprised to see you sir, I would have thought you were talking to T'soni"

"I was just up there, Liara has decided to stay with us, can't say I'm surprised though" he said. "With her mother and everything..." Ashley was about to say something, but Shepherd held up his hand. "I know, she's a civilian, the girl's determined…which is why I wanted to ask you this…"

"What is it?" Ash asked.

"We'll be seeing a lot of action soon, and if she's going to stay with us, she'll have to rely on a lot more than her biotics" Shepherd said. "So will you help me train her? I've asked Garrus and he's agreed to help"

"Uh, sure…I guess…" Shepherd raised a bow at the hesitation she showed at his request, she was usually so gung-ho about things.

"Okay, talk, what's wrong?"

"I'll be honest; I don't exactly trust them…"

"Is it because they're aliens?" He asked. Ash rubbed her neck sheepishly; he had hit the nail on the head. Shepherd had noticed that ever since the aliens came on board, Ash had been tense not at all like the joking girl he came to know after Eden Prime. "Speak your mind, Ash, tell me what's up"

Ash sighed. "I don't hate them, personally, but it's just…I just think we should be ready to go it without them" she said. "They came here each with their own plans, I respect that, but I don't think we should count on them staying our allies" Shepherd looked at Ash; something was telling him that there was more to this, more deep and personal.

"What made you think this way?" Shepherd asked. "It doesn't sound like you've worked with aliens before"

"My family has served the Alliance since its founding, my father, grandfather, and great-grandmother, all picked up a rifle and swore the oath of service" Ash said. "And no sir, I haven't, mostly ground side, garrison forces, rotations on space stations for training" This info surprised Shepherd, he read her record just before hitting the Citadel the first time, she has a clean record, spotless even, that was more he could say about his own.

"That's odd, with your record, you should be serving the main fleet" Shepherd said. "Why the crap assignments?"

Ash sighed. "Because of my Family…."

"What does your family have to do with it?" Shepherd asked. Ash looks at him blankly, not believing what she's hearing.

"You're kidding, didn't you read my files?" Ash asked. "My grandfather was General Luther Williams, The commander of the Shanxi garrison in the war"

Shepherd eyes went wide, almost everyone had heard of Shanxi, the first and only human colony to ever surrender to surrender to turian forces during the First Contact War. General Williams was the one responsible for the so-called surrender, and went down in history as one of Humanities most notorious traitors, right up there with Benedict Arnold; however the truth was sometime a funny thing. In reality, he had no choice, cut off from reinforcements; Williams commanded a desperate guerrilla campaign from Shanxi's surface. However, the turians' brutal and efficient tactics made it impossible for the human forces to make any headway. Entire city blocks were destroyed by the turians just to exterminate small marine fire teams. Finally, Williams realized that the only way to save what was left of Shanxi's population was to surrender to the turians.

Shepherd frowned. "You were blacklisted…" he said. "And this talk about aliens…"

"Yeah…but I won't let my family's name go down like that, Grandpa deserved better" Ash said angrily. "Being a Williams always meant proving your loyalty, become more patriotic than the next guy, because if you don't you'll always be looked with suspicion by your own people"

She calmed down and sighed. "Now that you know, you going to kick me off the ship?"

"Hell no, what they did to your grandfather was fucked up, you deserve better" Shepherd said.

Ash blushed. "Thanks skipper, you really don't know what this means to me, and yes I'll help with training T'soni, hopefully she can handle my brand of tough love"

Shepherd smiled. "No problem, Ash, see you bright and early tomorrow"

_**Had to make this chapter, not enough Ashley in the story. Any way I hope you are enjoying the rewrites and new chapters of the story. I'll try to get them out as fast as I can, and finish part 3.**_

_**So let me know with what you think, what I need to add, because this will be a huge overhaul. And as always, Comment and Review **_


	13. Chapter 12: Darkness

**Chapter 12: Darkness**

It was dark on the Normandy, hours before the day team were awake and there stood Shepherd, Ashley, and Garrus bright and early and well rested. In front of them, was a very tired asari, this was Liara first day of training and she was on the verge of collapsing on the floor, she was simply not used to getting up this early. Liara started to wonder, if she was in over her head.

"Okay, now that everyone is here, I'll explain how this will work" Shepherd said. Liara jumped attention. "I'll be your endurance trainer, so we'll be doing some jogging, and light exercises to build your stamina"

"I'll be your weapon trainer" Ashley said. "You will know the ends and outs of your weapon, how to fight with different weapons, and maintenance, by the time I'm done, you'll be as knowledgeable about the weapons as I am"

"And finally, I'll be your hand to hand instructor" Garrus said. "Sometimes you won't have your weapons and you'll be tired from using your biotics or you need to stealthy, this is was where close combat comes in, it is your last line of defense if all options don't work."

"You got all that, Liara? We'll be doing this a lot every morning, early" Shepherd said. "When we think you're ready, you'll go on your first mission with us" Liara nodded and the training began, Ashley was the first one to go first, she taught the asari how to shoot a pistol. At first it was hard, she never had use firearms, because of her biotics, but eventually she was getting use to the recoil. Next she studied up on the how the weapons worked, however it had gotten boring because it wasn't about protheans, which earned her some scolding from the female human.

Next Shepherd trained her endurance, crunches, pushups, and jogging. It was easy at first, but then everything started to hurt. Another couple of minutes of the so-called light exercise she was ready to collapse. As she struggled to get off the floor, she looked at Shepherd, who didn't even look tired, she to the back and saw Ashley not trying to laugh at her. She just became more determined and was ready for the next training. However, little did she know it would be her hardest yet. Liara took a little break, and when she was done she came back in, this time in lighter work-out clothes.

"Nervous?" Garrus asked circling Liara.

Liara gulped. "N-No…" She could almost hear the laugher in the turian's voice, which ticked her off, Garrus was underestimating her. On the side, Shepherd and Ash were looking from the sideline, with an almost amused look on their face.

"Go easy on her, Garrus" Shepherd said.

Garrus looked back and smirked. "You worry too much…" Liara took the chance to attack and started with a punch, and the turian just blocked it quickly and calmly. She then felt herself being lifted up by the turian, Garrus was stronger than he looked. And she found herself on the floor, she quickly got back up but was tossed again, again, again, until she was able to land one luck punch to Garrus' face, although she was so exhausted it didn't have nearly the effect she hoped it would.

Shepherd whistled. "I think that's all for now, good work, Liara" The asari smiled tiredly and was about to collapse, but was caught by Garrus. "Garrus get her to her room" The turian nodded and lifted her up, causing Liara to blush a little, and carried her to the elevator. She went and faced Ashley. "Thanks, Ash, get some rest" Ash smiled and went to her cot to get some rest. Shepherd got the same idea and went to his room, for some rest.

"Commander, Admiral Hackett wants to speak to you, says it's urgent" Joker said. "Commander" Shepherd stirred awake, and heard the message. He had gotten dress and went up to the comm room.

"I've received some troubling news" Hackett said. "Someone's been killing former Alliance scientists. There have been four deaths already"

Shepherd frowned. "What can you tell me?"

"All four scientists worked on a special project on Akuze years ago and it ended in a massacre" He said. "All were killed by Thresher Maws, and it was classified as a natural hazard, but the project coincides with the attack"

"That can't be a coincidence" Shepherd said.

"You're right, there was one other person that worked on the project, a Dr. Wayne, and he may know something" Hackett said. "Updating your galaxy map, good luck"

_Sixteen years ago, the Systems Alliance established the first dish field on Ontarom, defying the tidal disruptions and electrical storms that periodically sweep across the planet. The facility has since grown into a crucial communications hub for the Alliance._

_Trade between the Alliance base and nearby human settlements sustains planetary unity. The Alliance also trains and hires colonists to maintain the quantum communicators, further strengthening the bond between locals and the military forces that use the comm stations._

_Although most of the communication relays serve the military, a coalition of Ontarom's businesses has begun construction on a civilian broadcast hub. The local Alliance commander has offered the help of the military's technical experts, making Ontarom a symbol of civilian and military cooperation.-Codex_

"Lock and loaded" Garrus said. The mako's cannon roared as the last merc went down. "I almost feel sorry for them"

"They came in force, we should watch our back" Kaiden said. Shepherd and Garrus nodded, the mako was parked next to the base and got out. When they got in, they were shocked at the carnage that happened here, some of the bodies were mutilated, mostly the scientists. There were some burn marks on the floor or wall, mostly likely explosives. Garrus crouched down and checked one of the bodies.

"Someone sure doesn't like scientists…" he said. They then heard the sound of footsteps and got their weapons out. They went to the next area, and a shot rang out scattering the team to cover. Kaiden pushed one of the mercs back and overloaded the canister near the group; a sniper tried to take aim at him, but was shot in the head by Garrus' assault rifle. Shepherd threw some grenades, and it took out another group of mercs. Ultimately, the battle was short; the mercs were simply no match against trained soldiers. The team went through the base and into the back, when Shepherd opened the door; they find a soldier, mostly likely the leader, holding a scientist hostage. When the man saw the team, he held his gun at the scientist, their target Dr. Wayne.

"Stay back, I've got no grief with you!" the man said. "All I want is this bastard" Dr. Wayne looked at Shepherd with fear in his eyes, looking to him for help.

"Please help me, he's a madman, Mr. Toombs you're insane!" Wayne said. "You need help!"

Toombs glared at him. "Shut up, It's Corporal! Corporal Toombs!" He growled. "You don't get to lie, not today! Today it all comes out!"

"Lower your weapon and step away from the doctor, slowly" Shepherd said with his weapon raised. "Or I will fire"

"You fire and he dies!" Toombs said.

"Toombs is crazy, please help me!" Toombs gave a chilling unhinged laugh, which even gave the team the creeps. Shepherd was afraid that reason was not going to resolve this standoff.

"You think I'm afraid to die?!" Toombs asked. "All that matters is killing the bastards that ruined my life!"

"What did the doctor do to you?" Shepherd asked. Toombs ignored him, Shepherd tried again. "Toombs!" The Corporal looked at him.

"I was on Akuze, I saw my entire unit wiped out by Thresher Maws" Shepherd looked at him surprised, Admiral Hackett said there were no survivors. He wanted to say something, but Shepherd let him continue. "The scientists, they were studying the Thresher Maw, they let them hit our squad just watch"

Tears then started to flow from his eyes. "I was the only one who escaped, but then I was knocked out, when I came to, the scientists were delighted I survived" he said shakily. "Now they had a lab rat, someone who could run tests on…" The team looked at him with wide eyes, the terror Toombs must have felt; it must have overwhelmed him, so much it broke him.

"He doesn't have any proof, I demand a fair trial" Shepherd glared at the doctor; the more he pleaded the more Shepherd thought he had something to do with Toombs insanity.

"This man deserved to die! For the lost years of my life, for my friends that died!" Toombs said angrily. "Let me kill him!"

"Toombs think about this, this isn't the way, there are other ways to get justice" Shepherd said. "Just lower the gun, and we'll talk…"

"No more talk…" Toombs killed Dr. Wayne, the scientist slumped to the ground in a pool of his own blood. Toombs looked at the doctor, and spoke, his voice was eerily calm. "My brothers and sister can finally rest in peace; the nightmares can finally end…." Toombs put the pistol up to his head, Shepherd tried to get to the Corporal, but he pulled the trigger and fell to the floor, with his eyes staring out at nothing.

Shepherd went to the Corporal and closed his eyes. He shook his head. "Such a waste…" he said sadly. "Let's go back to the Normandy" The team nodded and left the abandoned base.


	14. Chapter 13: For His Sake

Hello my people, after a somewhat short hiatus, I'm back with more Mass Effect: Beauty &The Beast with new chapters, I welcome all critics and advice to make the story better, enjoy.

**Chapter 13: For His Sake**

Things have awkward on the Normandy, to say the least. Ever since that hug on Therum, things have been weird between Shepherd and Tali. They've try to avoid each other and conversation becomes nothing more than a mess jumbled words between the two when they do see each other. To make matters worse, the crew seemed to have notice the awkwardness between their commander and the young Quarian engineer, leading to speculations and rumors on what had happened on Therum, making them actually forget about the daughter of one of their enemies was on board the ship and effectively part of the crew. "So exactly how long are those two going to keep this up? Garrus said eating his rations.

Kaiden sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not surprised thing are the way they are, that hug was out the blue" he said. The hug also presented another problem, since they were witnesses to said hug; they were in the middle of it. And they really didn't want to be in the middle. "It's only going to get worse if they don't talk about it"

Garrus came up from eating his food. "You know it's strange, I didn't think the commander was into Tali like that" he said. Kaiden looked at Garrus and raised a brow. _'Really? Where have you been?'_ Garrus tilted his head at Kaiden's look and continued. "That hug seemed to mean more than just 'I glad you're alright and more I was afraid I lost you" he said. Kaiden was about to say something, but had a thought about what he said. _'Hmm, could it be because of that?_' Garrus looked at him. "Kaiden?"

Kaiden broke out of his thoughts and looked at him. "We need to do something about this" he said. Garrus looked at him blankly. "What?" Kaiden asked.

"What good would that do? They aren't exactly going to talk us; Tali have trust issues being a Quarian and Shepherd's not the type to share what he's feeling". Kaiden considered the turian said, he was right, Tali and Shepherd were very stubborn unless they forced the issue. _'Might as well do it, I mean we all saw it, not like it's going away'_ Kaiden and Garrus sat what seemed like a long time until Garrus spoke up. "Well for the good of the team, maybe we should try, I mean it couldn't hurt right?" the turian said unsure. _'Hmm and maybe it could' _Kaiden knew the wrong move could make things worse. Shepherd and Tali were friends, but for the good of the team, they had to at least try.

"Alright, I'll talk to Shepherd and you talk to Tali" Kaiden said.

Garrus looked at him and stiffened. "Wait why do I have to talk to her? Why can't you?" Garrus complained.

Kaiden raised his brow. "Because, one I know Wayne the longest, so he trusts me and two you need to talk to Tali, think of it as an apology to her for what you said."

Kaiden didn't know if turians could turn pale, but he could have sworn he turned white. "You heard?" he asked nervously. Kaiden just grinned; it was all the turian needed to know. Garrus sighed and threw his hands up in defeat. "Fine, I'll do it" he said. The two split up, Garrus went down to engineering and Kaiden stayed on the crew deck to talk to Shepherd. He always knew there was something between Shepherd and Tali; they joked and argued like they were a couple for years.

If they made official, he would cheer them on, but he couldn't help but feel a little jealous. He's had feelings for Shepherd for a long time, ever since Shepherd tried save him from Yūsuf. But want cemented his feeling for Shepherd was one incident back on the Citadel, where Kaiden wondered into the wrong side of the Wards.

_**Ten Years ago**_

_It was break time for Kaiden and Shepherd, after doing their studies; they were off for at least a week. Anderson was nice enough, to let them use his apartment at the Citadel, Kaiden still couldn't believe that one of best friends knew Captain Anderson, the legend of the Alliance._

"_Oh fuck yeah, Anderson has a hot tub, chicks love hot tubs" Shepherd said with a smirk._

_Kaiden rolled his eyes at his friend's lecherous smirk. "You do know I don't care about that right? Gay remember?"_

"_Then let me reiterate, chicks and dudes love hot tubs" Shepherd said. He then saw Kaiden leave. "Where do you think you're going?"_

"_Study supplies; don't forget we still have that report on 'Tactics in Biotic Combat' Kaiden said._

_Shepherd groaned. "Can't you think about anything but boot camp?" he asked annoyed. "We're on vacation, you know the old saying: 'All work and no play make Kaiden a dull boy' _

"_Cute, but I'm not dull, I'm pragmatic" Kaiden said. "You should be more serious about your work, a little more effort and you could graduate at the top of your year" He then heard no response. "Wayne?" He then saw Shepherd asleep on his bed, Kaiden's eye started to twitch in annoyance._

"_That son of bitch fell asleep on me!"Kaiden walked out and slammed the door behind him, and when he was gone, Shepherd opened his eyes and smirked. He was pretending to sleep._

"_Now that that's over, time to hit the hot tubs" Shepherd with a smirk. Meanwhile Kaiden was walking down to the Wards to find that program shop, for the study programs. He was still fuming at how lazy Shepherd can be; he knew his lectures can go on for a long time, but that just he cared about his success. 'Just because he's cute, doesn't mean he can be dumb' he thought. However as he continuing his mental rant against Shepherd, he didn't realize that he turned the wrong corner. As he continued to walk, he bumped into something, something large, and angry._

"_Watch where the fuck you're going!" Kaiden looked up and saw a huge krogan that was having a bad day, however with krogan you never knew. Kaiden got up and dusted himself off._

"_Sorry, I was distracted, won't happen again" He went and walk away, but the krogan got in front of him, still very pissed off. "Look I apologized, no need to start a fight"_

"_Too bad you got one!" The krogan raised his fist, and Kaiden jumped out-of-the-way. Kaiden glowed blue and threw a few warp fields, but the krogan just shrugged it off and as a bonus it pissed the krogan off. The krogan charged and hit the human biotc hard against the wall, dropped to the ground weaken, his vision getting blurry. The last thing he saw was the krogan's foot about to crush him…._

"_Kaiden? Kaiden! Come on, man, wake up!" Kaiden heard a voice, a familiar voice, he opened his eyes, and found himself in the hospital, with Shepherd at his side. "You're okay!"_

"_Wha…what happened?" Kaiden asked. A man dress in white came in his room._

"_You got knocked to hell, that's what happened, if it wasn't for C-sec you would have been dead" the doctor said._

"_Who called C-sec?" he asked. The doctor pointed to Shepherd, he was getting worried about Kaiden being late and tracked down his omni-tool, there he saw a krogan beating up on Kaiden and called C-sec. Just as the Krogan was about to stomp on him, C-sec arrived, and C-sec arrested the Krogan and helped Kaiden get to the closest hospital they could find. Shepherd was there at his side the whole time, never moving until Kaiden woke up._

_Kaiden blushed. "Thank you, Wayne…" Kaiden said._

_Shepherd smiled. "No problem, what are friends for?"_

After that, he even tried to ask him out during their Sentinel program days, but he turned him down, and they've been friends since then. Still there were days he wished he and Shepherd could be more than friends. _'Give it up, all we will ever be is 'just friends'_ Kaiden thought sadly. He shook his head and knocked on the door.

"Kaiden, what's up?" Shepherd said.

Kaiden sighed._ 'It's now or never' he thought_ "I'm here to get you to talk to Tali" he said bluntly.

Shepherd stiffened. "W-what to talk about? We…hugged" he said nervously.

Kaiden shook his head he knew Shepherd was going to be a challenge, but he could tell he was going to be difficult. "Ever since that hug, you two have acted strange, and the crew's taken notice" Shepherd just rubbed his neck unsure what to say. "It's about Mindoir, isn't it?" Kaiden said seriously.

Shepherd looked at him and sighed. "When she almost died… It scared me." He said. Shepherd looked down at the floor. "It just reminded me of my failures in life, Mindoir and Torfan"

Kaiden knew it, he knew a little about Mindoir, but he never talked about Torfan, not even to Anderson. Tali's presence was helping him come to terms with his past, in a way he could not. _'I'm not who he needs, he needs Tali'_ he thought sadly. "Wayne? Have you tried talking to Tali about this? It's something you need to do" he asked.

"I've known that, we can't go on with the mission if we don't work this out, but I'm…" Shepherd sighed, hesitating before continuing, "...afraid.

"Why?" Kaiden asked.

"I'm afraid of what she might think of me, I hate pity, I always have and what about Torfan, will she see me as a monster, will she be afraid…of me?" he said sadly. "I've never felt this way before. I've never been afraid to face a problem with biotics and shit. But words? It's just not me. Shit, I feel pathetic."

"You shouldn't, it just means you're human. Plus she doesn't seem like the type to look down on weakness" Kaiden said. Shepherd looked away. Kaiden turned away and sighed. "She trusts you, Wayne; why else would she join you? Talk to her for your sake and hers" Kaiden walked away doing the most painful thing he ever did, letting go the man he loved.


	15. Chapter 14: Shotgun and a Hard Place

**Chapter 14: Between a Shotgun & a Hard Place**

'_Spirits, I hate this'_ he thought in dread. Garrus was not looking forward to this at all. He wished he could back out of this, but his damned turian sense of honor wouldn't let him. He hated to admit it but Kaiden was right, he had to fix this. It hadn't been too long since that fateful elevator ride, where out of stupidity, decided to make a very stupid remark about Tali's race. He could remember as if it was yesterday. Garrus shuttered.

_**Weeks before Therum**_**  
** _"The Quarians endangered the entire galaxy when they let the geth break free." Garrus said, casually. "I hope your people are properly contrite, Tali."_

"_As you turians were happy for releasing the genophage on the krogan?" she shot back. "We didn't let them do anything! They were to ones who attacked us, so don't act like you know what my people are like, you bosh'tet! It started off as casual conversation, but when Garrus said those infamous words _

_"You're assuming that sterilizing them was a mistake," Garrus replied easily "My people saved the galaxy, unlike yours" Tali glared at him, fuming over Garrus's insults._

_"You know, Garrus, you make a good point." Shepherd said._ _We humans have a saying: 'You broke it, you bought it'.__ Tali stared at Shepherd in disbelief. _

"_How can you say that? I thought you, of all people, were above this!" Tali said hurt._

"_Cause Shepherd, knows history" Garrus said smugly._

_Shepherd continued and turned to face Garrus with a hard look in his eyes. "Yeah I do, and FYI, you owe me an apology."_

_Garrus returned Shepherd's glare with a blank stare. "For what?!"_

_"The First Contact War. You turians killed a lot of my people and occupied one of our planets. And that's the least of your problems" Shepherd said coldly. Garrus gulped, he pissed off the wrong person._ _"The genophage. Biological weapons, if humans did that shit we'd be put on trial. You committed a war crime, turian, and yet your people are considered heroes" _

_"T-That's absurd!" Garrus snapped back. _

_Shepherd stepped forward and grabbed the turian's armor, pulling sharply so that they were face to face. "Then explain to the rookie, how you can judge her race but she can't judge yours." He shoved Garrus hard against the wall of the elevator. The doors opened and Shepherd turned back at the turian "You and me in my cabin now, it seems I wasn't clear enough about causing trouble on my ship, oh don't worry you going to learn." Tali looked back at Garrus with a satisfied smirk._

Garrus turned pale. _'When am I going to learn to keep my damned mouth shut?'_ he thought. Of course this wasn't the first time, oh no that honor happened when to his talk with Wrex, over how krogans were brainless thugs only good for target practice, of course when he was talking about the mercs they were fighting, but Wrex overheard and a fight almost happen. Garrus and Shepherd exchanged a few words on the value of respect. _'More like he yell while I listen, after two times, I don't ever want to go through that again'_ he thought with fear. Say what you will about the human, he knew how to inflict the fear of gods in you. Garrus shuttered and reached engineering. This was not going to be fun. He gulped and stepped inside, it was like he stepped into a cold front. Adams and the other engineers gave him cold glares. It made sense after all, Tali were like a little sister to everyone in engineering and no one messes with their little sister.

"What do you want?" Adams said coldly.

'_More like a daughter to Adams'_ Garrus thought. "I-I'm here to talk to Tali, alone if you don't mind" he said nervously.

Adams crossed his arms. "Anything you can say in front of Tali, you can say in front of us" The engineers all looked at him, Garrus gulped , he really did not want to be there. "We're waiting"

"It's okay Adams I'll take it from hear" Tali said.

Adams looked at Tali. "You sure?" Tali nodded. "I'm watching you, Valkarian" he hissed. If Garrus was a lesser man he would have pissed himself now. Adams and the engineers left, leaving Garrus and Tali alone.

Tali crossed her arms and glared at him. "What do you want? Come to condemn my people again" she said coldly. It was now or never.

"I'm sorry" He said with a slight bow.

Tali stared blankly up at the turian for a long moment. "What?" She was expecting a fight, not apology. She crossed her arms. "Well I'm listening" she said gesturing Garrus to so sit. Garrus sat next to Tali.

The turian sighed. "Turians are brought up to own our actions. Denying a crime is worse than doing it in the first place to us. We also keep detailed history and own that as well. It's... just part of who we are. I shouldn't be holding another species to our rules." He explained.

"Your right shouldn't have" Tali shot back. He knew the Quarian was not going to make this easy.

Garrus rubbed his neck. "I know you are not exactly trustful of the council races and I understand me talking about you race like that didn't help" Tali looked at him still listening. "I'm not sure what to think now," Garrus admitted, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "You didn't make the geth, but your ancestors did. If you were turian, I'd say you should share the blame. But you're not turian, and your people have already been punished for three hundred years..."

Tali took a deep breath. "Yes. We have been. Every single one of us lives on ships; we're a hull breach away from extinction. We can't get jobs, because the other races look down on us, we can't own a planet, because your people would threaten blast us into space dust and we can't even do the stuff you take for granted, a kiss could put me in the hospital, and intercourse could outright kill me" she said sadly.

"People my age are forced to risk life and limb looking for something to ensure the survival of Quarian race, a lot of them never come back" she said. "We can't even mourn our dead the proper way, because it's a waste of resources, do you know how it feels to be a fifteen year old child seeing your people space your own mother's body?"

Garrus's posture assumed that same shamed stance he'd shown in the elevator. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't know"

"Just remember that the next time you start talking about my people." Tali said turning back to the console.

Garrus simply nodded. "Maybe we can start over, as friends, if you're willing" he said humbly.

Tali turned back and sighed. "Ok Garrus, you did a brave thing to apologize to me so I guess we can start over."

Garrus was relieved that the air was cleared between him and Tali, and then he remembered what Kaiden wanted him to do. "So about that hug on Therum"

Tali stiffened and glare at him. "I knew it, I knew it was too good to be true" she said angrily.

Garrus waved his hands in alarm. "Before you jump to conclusion, I did mean what I said."

Tali calmed down a little. "That hug was all I could think about since we came back, all it did was confuse my feelings for him farther." She said sadly.

Garrus looked at her concerned. "Look, I'm not the best when it comes to relationships, but I do know this, you will only get more confused, love is kinda like that."

Tali lowered her head. "So what should I do?"

Garrus thought about it for a second. "Talk to him, something may come of it or not, but if you take too long you'll lose his friendship." He said softly. Tali looked at him surprised, that was really wise of him to say. Garrus looked at her blankly. "What?"

To Garrus' surprise Tali hugged him and ran out of the Engineering room, to look for Shepherd, leaving a very confused turian, then he heard footsteps and Tali was back at the door . "Oh, thank you, Garrus."

Garrus blinked. "Uh, no problem, Tali"


	16. Chapter 15: Heart to Heart

**Chapter 15: Heart to Heart**

It was nighttime on the Normandy, which meant only the skeleton crew was on duty. It was perfect for Shepherd, peace and quiet to think about what Kaiden said. Mindoir was always a touchy subject, even with Kaiden and Anderson knowing. And Torfan was out of the question, because even Shepherd was ashamed of talking about it. He was afraid of how Tali would think of him, he had enough of pity from his academy days, and he was afraid of Tali not talking to him.

Kaiden was right, Tali trusted him, enough for to drop her pilgrimage and sign on a possible suicide mission, and join them, it said a lot about her. Despite, their rough start he saw Tali as good friend, one of the few that will put up with his shit, what happened on Therum awaken new feelings for the young Quarian. The only one to make him feel this way was Emi on Mindoir twelve years ago; there was no denying it she was falling for Tali. Shepherd hadn't had a real relationship, since then all of them have been the typical one night stands, it made things easy. "No love, and no pain involved, simple, easy" he said with a sad smile.

"Hey Shepherd" Tali said as she approached the table. Shepherd looked at her and couldn't help but blush. She was fidgeting, she was just as nervous about the talk as he was, he couldn't help but find that cute.

"It's too quiet to sleep?" Shepard asked with a somewhat amused look on his face. He knew from their first conversion on the Normandy.

Tali gave a small chuckle. "You could say that" Then it was quiet again, the tension was so thick. "About that hug…" she started.

Shepherd looked at her and interrupted. "It shouldn't have happen" he said tensely.

"Oh..." she simply said. Her head lowered her head, all Shepherd could do was rub his head sheepishly. "Y-You're right, it shouldn't have happened, I'm sorry…to put you in that position" she choked. _'Great I hurt her feelings, just because of my stupid fear'_ he cursed himself. Tali turned away. So that was it, this was not going to get resolved, and their friendship would be ruined. Could he just let it end like this, because of his fear losing someone close?

"Tali wait" he started. He couldn't. Tali looked back at him. Shepherd stood up and put his hands on her shoulder. "That hug…I meant it" he said nervously.

Tali looked at him and blushed. "Y-you did?" she asked. Shepherd went to sit down and Tali followed him.

"When you fell down, it brought back some bad memories" he said solemnly. Tali looked at him with concern, since they met he never talked to her about his past, the one time she learned anything from before was from Kaiden.

"What kind of bad memories?" she asked cautiously.

Shepherd took a deep breath "When I was fifteen, batarian slavers raided my home. I was one of the survivors. My family and friends wasn't so lucky." He said sadly.

"I'm sorry..." Tali began, uncertain of what else to say.

Shepherd put his hands up. "D-don't, I don't need pity, I hate pity, just understand"

Tali came up and did something surprising; she wrapped her arms around Shepherd. "I won't, I care too much to pity you" she said softly.

Tears came to his eyes, and he buried his head on her shoulder. She felt warm despite her environment suit. He couldn't understand it, he had thought he didn't have tears left for Mindoir, but he did and it felt good, Tali didn't see him weak man to be pitied, like all the rest who known his situation. "Thank you" he said.

Tali smiled a little behind her mask. "So who else knows besides me?" she said softly.

Shepherd wiped his tears and smiled. "Kaiden and Anderson" he said. Tali tilted her head and Shepherd chuckled and continued. "Kaiden was the first one I trusted to tell this to and Anderson saved my life on Mindoir and took me in."

Tali smiled. "Is that why you joined the Alliance?" she asked.

Shepherd nodded. "Yeah, it was one of the reasons I joined out of thanks for him saving my life"

"One of the reasons? What was the other?" Tali asked.

Shepherd rubbed his head. "Sorry, maybe later, it not something I'm ready to share just yet."

Tali nodded. "It's okay, tell me when you're ready, I'm just glad you trusted me enough to share" She started to turn away.

"What about you?" Shepherd asked. Tali looked back at him. "You haven't told me much about yourself since you first came on board"

"Sure I have" Tali said.

"Yeah, your people, you love talking about them, but not yourself, I have to admit, I've always been curious." Shepherd said.

Tali shook her head. "With good reason, Quarians aren't trusting of other races, and the other races hate us, so what's the point?" she said sadly. "Besides, I didn't think you would want to know…"

Shepherd walked to her and took her hand "I do, trust me"

Tali looked at him and blushed. She and Shepherd sat back down. "I was born on the ship, The Rayya, I've never lived anywhere but the Rayya but I've visited the other ships once or twice. My father taught me several things, engineering and technology combat and all that," Tali explained, then hesitated a moment before adding, "He's an admiral of the fleet"

Shepherd smirked. "So Little Miss Tali is a princess, that explains the attitude." He teased.

Tali scoffed. "Don't call me that, bosh'tet"

Shepherd had a huge shit eating grin. "Oh yeah what are you going to do, little princess?" he said playfully.

"'Little princess' huh? I'll show you what this 'little princess' can do…" Tali said. She got up and immediately try to pounced on him, but Shepherd was too fast and dodged it easily. He gave a smug smile and gestured Tali to bring it on, Tali charged and Shepherd used the table as leverage and jumped over her. Tali was impressed with Shepherd's agility, despite being taller and heavier than she.

After many minutes of playing around, Tali found herself tired and Shepherd not even breathing heavily. "Come on, Rookie, that all you got?"

"Boshtet…" Shepherd just smirked, she really wanted to wipe it off that smile of his mouth, she then realized a can on the floor, it must have been knocked to the floor when they were roughhousing.

"Give up, Rookie?"

"Not yet…" Tali charged again and Shepherd tried to dodge, but was about to trip on the can, and with her hands pushing against his upper body, Tali caused Shepherd to stumble backwards and he landed on his back with Tali on top of him.

"Hah! Not such a little princess anymore, am I?" Tali asked victoriously.

Shepherd huff and snorted. "You just got lucky"

Tali just smirked. "Aw is the great Commander Shepherd pouting?" She teased. Next thing he knew he kissed her on her mouthpiece.

Shepherd smirked. "Not anymore"

Tali blushed and tried to get off him, but he just grabbed the sides of her waist and looked in her eyes. "You sure about this?" she asked softly. "Dating a quarian I mean"

"No, but I willing to try and take it slow, if you're up to it" he said softly. "As for the quarian thing, I don't care about that…never did"

Tali blushed and smiled back. "Then I would like that, taking it slow I mean"

"Good" he said. Shepherd smiled, he would risk it, and he wouldn't his past or his fear ruin this, for the first time Mindoir was not on his mind. He would make this work. After a little while, Shepherd and Tali just stayed up, enjoying each others company. "It's getting kind of late…"

"Yeah…" Tali said softly. Shepherd and Tali hugged each other and separated. "Good night, Shepherd"

"Good night, Tali" Shepherd went back to his room; he looked back as the elevator went down, and smiled. Tonight was a good night to be alive.


	17. Chapter 16: Calm before the Storm

**Chapter16: Calm before the Storm**

Last night had been a huge surprise, for the both of them, neither of them expected to end up a couple, but they were and they knew nothing of what to do next. However, Shepherd was serious that he would make this work, so he went to the number one expert on relationships, Kaiden. "You and Tali are what?!" Kaiden said surprised.

"Yep, we're a couple now, it kinda happened in the heat of the moment" Shepherd said rubbing his head. Kaiden looked at him blankly; he had talk to Shepherd to stop the awkwardness between him and Tali, but he didn't think they would be official so soon. "I'm out of practice with this stuff, so I came you; you had a lot of relationships back at the academy."

"Yes with men, but I don't know anything about relationships with women, much less alien women" he said annoyed. Kaiden looked a Shepherd's face and sighed. "Well you are going to take things slow with her right? Tali's a nice girl, so tell me you aren't going to treat this like your one-night stands."

Shepherd nodded his head. "Don't worry, I care for rookie, I don't see her like that, it's hard to understand, but when I see her, it makes me happy" he said. "I haven't felt that way in a long time"

Kaiden smiled and shook his head, impressed with his answer. "Well if you're going to do it then I suggest you start things off with a date"

"Good, good, um where?" Shepherd asked. Kaiden palmed his hand to his face.

"Think about it, we have nothing to do and what's the one place that has everything" Kaiden said.

"The Citadel! But wait, would Tali go for it? It's not exactly her favorite place" Shepherd said. He knows how Quarians were treated there.

Kaiden smiled. "As long you with her, she'll have fun, after all she there for you not those bigots" Shepherd thanked him and made his way to engineering.

He made to engineering, and he was nervous this was going to be his first date with his new girlfriend. _'Girlfriend, I actually got a girlfriend now'_ he thought amazed. He shook his head; he couldn't believe he was acting like he was fifteen again. He went inside and found the engineers all smiling at him. _'Ok this is creepy'_ he thought as he made his way to Tali. "Hey, rookie" he said.

Tali looked at him and sighed. "Really? Still calling me rookie, even though we're dating now" she teased. She then came forward and hugged him.

Shepherd smirked. "What can I say, it stuck with me" he said hugging her back. He looked at the other engineers looking away. "What's with then?" Shepherd said pointing at them.

Tali stiffened and rung her hands together. "Um, they kinda know about us" she said nervously. Shepherds eyes went wide.

"What? How?" he asked looking back at the engineers. The engineers stiffened.

Tali blushed "They kind of spied on us" she said.

"What?! Adams!" He said letting go of Tali. Tali grabbed his arm and pulled him back. Shepherd looked at Tali and calmed down. _'Right, can't get angry now, but I'm going to have a talk with Adams'_ he thought. He knew engineering were some of the most close-kit on the ship, unfortunately they were also the most nosy. Adams calmed down.

"So what are you doing here, n-not that I'm not happy to see you" She said nervously. Shepherd looked at her. _'Yep, still cute'_ he thought with a small smile.

"I was wondering if you would like to go on a date, with me, on the Citadel" Shepherd said with a smile. Tali looked down; Shepherd blinked, it was not the reaction he was expecting. "What's wrong?" he said with concern.

"Do you want to be seen in public, with me, a Quarian?" she asked sadly. The engineers and Adams cleared out of engineering, giving them some privacy. _'Great, the one time they're not nosy'_ he thought. Shepherd looked at Tali and kissed her mouthpiece, it was kind of weird to kiss plastic and metal, but with Tali's immune system the way it is, a real kiss was not going to happen for a while and he was strangely ok with it.

Tali blushed. "Does that answer your question? Look I don't give a damn what other people thinks, I want this work, ok" he said softly. Tali smiled and hugged him. "Good girl, we'll be at the Citadel in five hours so ready."

"Ok Shepherd" she said.

"Please, call me Wayne" he said with a smile.

The Normandy glided into dock at the Citadel for 10 hours of restocking, refueling, and charge dumping, just enough time for the crew to get some rest and for Shepherd and Tali to have their date. Of course the date didn't start well, first was that asshole of admiral complaining about his ship and crew and he almost lost it when he called Tali a suit rat, that was the thing about Shepherd, you could insult him all you wanted, but insult his friend or in this case his girlfriend all bets were off, but Tali stop him from making a big mistake.

Then there was that bitch, Khalisah Al-Jilani, doing everything she could smear Shepherd's name and he had to stop Tali from trying throttle the woman, although he would have welcomed it and Tali was kind of sexy when angry, her people didn't need 'violent' to be added to her people's reputation. Finally they made it the Presidium.

"Finally, we're here" Shepherd said tiredly. He looked at Tali; she was out of breath too. "Now we can have that date"

"Yes we can" she said hugging him. As they were hugging people were staring at them. A few looked angry or aghast that a human would seem to be with a Quarian, while the rest looked confused. "Um Wayne, I think we should sit down"

Tali and Shepherd were having a great time despite the stares they were getting, inter-species relationships were uncommon on the Citadel, but a human/Quarian pairing was downright unusual. Shepherd could tell was getting uncomfortable and did the unthinkable, he asked her to dance. They went down to the wards to a club called Flux.

Shepherd liked Flux. It was full of energy, and for once people weren't trying to shoot at them for once, and it contained alcohol, because no one should ever forget the alcohol. Then he saw the dancing and suddenly started to regret this, however Tali was not going to let him back out. "So how about it Commander? Or is the big, bad music making you scared?" She said playfully.

Shepherd blushed. "Um well…you know…" he stammered. _'Dammit, why am I so nervous?'_ he thought.

Tali smiled and pulled him to the dance floor. Shepherd was surprised he never knew Tali were so good at dancing. However when he started dancing, Tali couldn't help but laugh. "You are really bad at this you know that?" she said giggling.

"Yeah, yeah…" he grumbled.

"Here, watch me" she said as she moved like water.

Shepherd started to blush as his pants got tighter_. 'Damn that's sexy, but down boy'_ he cursed himself. "And here I was worried about you" he said with a smile.

Tali smiled back. "No need, I can take care of myself" she said dancing seductively. _'Damn she's making it hard'_

"Getting kind of thirsty, want a drink, rookie?" Shepherd asked.

"As long as it's sterilized"

"Got it, one sterilized turian drink coming up" Shepherd went to get the drinks, as Tali continued dancing, a turian and human decided to cause trouble. They looked at the quarian with a disgusting smile on their faces, they walked near her, too near for Tali's comfort.

"Hey baby, how about we some fun?" the turian asked.

"Not interested" Tali said. The turian would not give up and his friend joined in.

"Come on, make it worth our while" the human said grabbing Tali's arm.

"Let go!" she yelled. Then the human did one major mistake, he touched Tali's ass.

"Mmm, soft, kinda surprised from a suit rat bitch like you" He said lewdly. Tali glared at him, and gave a hard punch across his face. The human held his nose in pain.

"Ah! Fucking cunt broke my nose!" the human said. The dance floor started to clear as they were watching the spectacle, of a quarian pissing off a human and a turian. The human looked the turian angrily. "What are you wating for, you idiot?! Let's fuck this bitch up!" Tali raised her arms ready for a fight, until the human and turian were blown back with a biotic throw.

"You fuckers got a lot of nerve trying to threaten my girlfriend in front of me" Shepherd said.

Tali blushed at that. "I'm your girlfriend?"

Shepherd smirked. "Of course, you see any other sexy quarian woman around here?" Off to the side of Shepherd's eye the human and turian got up and looked ready to fight.

Shepherd sighed. "I got the turian, I suppose you'll want the human" he said looking back at Tail.

Tali smirked. "Such a gentleman" she teased.

"I try" The turian charged at Shepherd, and tried to strike the spectre with his talons, Shepherd just smirked as he dodged the blows. The turian punched him, but Shepherd was ready as he held his arm, and stomped on the turian's knees forcing him on the ground and ended it with a knee to his face. The human held out a knife and swung at Tali, the quarian ducked and swept his leg, causing the human to fall. She then gave a huge, swift kick to human's gut, knocking the air out of him. The two thugs was no match for the couple and the bouncer threw them out like trash.

Shepherd rubbed his hands and smirked. "Good riddance to bad rubbish" He then grabbed Tali by the waist. "Nice moves" he said kissing her mouthpiece.

"Thanks, you too" she said with a smile.

The crowd around them started applauding the couple, with Shepherd and Tali two kept on dancing until they left the club only to find Kaiden waiting for them. "Enjoy the date?" he asked with a grin. The couple blushed.

"What are you doing here other than teasing us?" Shepherd asked annoyed. Kaiden's grin disappeared. "Kaiden?"

"We got a message from an Admiral Kohoku, he wants us to meet him at Chora's Den" He said seriously. Shepherd and Tali looked at each other. _'What's an Admiral doing in that hellhole?'_

"Why?" Tali asked.

"He wants to talk about that mission on Edolus we did a while back" Kaiden said.

"Why is he curious about Edolus? " Shepherd asked.

"The men that died served under him, and he suspects foul play" The three made their way to Chora's Den.


	18. Chapter 17: Shadow of Cerberus

**Chapter 17: Shadow of Cerberus**

Chora's Den, a gentlemen's club on the Citadel, in the lower section of the Wards near the Markets and a place Shepherd like to forget, it was one of the first place he went to get evidence on Saren's betrayal those two months ago. However, it wasn't totally a bitter experience; after all it was how he met the cute Quarian he was now dating. The three went to through the alleyway, same where Shepherd met Tali and met up with Ashley. "Hey, skipper" she said.

Shepherd stiffened at seeing her. "Uh, Ash, w-what are you doing here?"

"Kaiden, brought me" She said. Shepherd glared at Kaiden and Kaiden just rubbed his head sheepishly.

"He did, did he?" Shepherd asked.

Ashley then looked at Tali. "Uh, what is Tali doing here?" she asked. Shepherd paled at that, he knew Williams had a problem with aliens, a problem she had sometimes suppressing. _'Oh boy, How is going to react to me and Tali dating?' _Ashley had a crush on Shepherd, he knew it, she wasn't very good at hiding that fact, but now he and Tali were dating, he knew he would have to play referee sooner or later, just not now.

"Tali was with me shopping for new weapons, that's all" Shepherd lied. Tali looked at him, but gave him an understanding nod. Their relationship was still new; they weren't ready to tell the crew just yet.

"Yeah, what would he ever do, if bought the wrong weapon" Tali said. Both Shepherd and Tali laughed nervously causing Ashley to raise a brow but let it go, much to the couple's relief.

As the group walked, Shepherd hung back; he needed to have a talk with Kaiden. "Ashley? Are you crazy? You know how she feels about aliens" he whispered.

"Ash is Alliance too, I can't just leave her out, especially when it comes with an Admiral" Kaiden said. Shepherd glared at him. "Don't worry; she doesn't know about you and Tali, I made sure of that." Shepherd sighed and nodded.

"You're a good friend" Shepherd said. Kaiden gave a grin.

"And don't you forget it" he joked. The two men gave a small laugh, but stopped when Ash looked back at them.

"Something I should know?" she asked with a raised brow.

Shepherd looked at her. "That we're here?" he said pointing at the door. Ashley stood at attention, readying her weapon. He couldn't blame her, she had heard about the gun fight that Shepherd, Wrex, and Garrus had at this place. Shepherd looked at Kaiden. "And you're sure that message was good?" Kaiden nodded. He took a deep breath. "Let's go, but keep your weapons at the ready just in case." Shepherd said. Tali, Ash, and Kaiden nodded, and they went inside.

The club was full of seedy characters, lively music and slutty asari dancers just like before. _'Looks like business hasn't suffered since Fist's death, it looks even dirtier, if that was even possible'_ he thought.

"Huh, I can see why this place is so popular, got quite the view" Kaiden said. "Now if only they had entertainment catering to me…"

Ashely shook her head. "Millions of light years from where humanity began and we walk into a glorified titty bar" she said annoyed. "And men drooling over half-naked women shaking their asses on tables, don't know if I find this funny or sad"

Tali elbowed Shepherd to his side to get his attention, Shepherd looked at her. "I hope to never see you here, Wayne" she said.

Shepherd smirked at her. "Don't worry about me, rookie, strip clubs are so overrated" he said. "I rather have the mystery"

Tali blushed. "Good to know…"

Shepherd scanned the club until he saw an older gentleman, in civilian gear. "Are you Admiral Kohoku?" Shepherd asked cautiously. The man nodded, and gestured for the group to come and sit with him. The older man spoke.

"Shepherd nice to finally meet you, it's about time the council got off their asses, and made one of us a spectre" Kohoku's gaze went over to Tali. "If you don't mind me asking, why is a Quarian with you?" the older man asked. It wasn't with venom, he was really curious.

"Tali is part of my crew, and I'm not getting rid of her, if that's what you're thinking" Shepherd said defiantly. He looked at Tali, and she smiled back, happy for his defense of her. Shepherd then heard Kohoku laugh.

"I heard about your non-human crew, you don't have to worry, I'm not one of those idiots who believe in the gospel of human stubbornness" he said. Shepherd was relieved, he didn't have to defend his crew choices like that other admiral. "They may not like it, but even they have to admit that having a multi-species crew make the Alliance look good, so treat your crew well, Shepherd, and they will go the extra mile for you, remember that." Shepherd nodded happy with the admiral's words. The older man grew serious now "Now that this is over, let's get to business, you have data on my men"

Shepherd told the man about their mission on Edolus, the distress beacon, and the battle with a Thresher Maw that almost cost them their lives. Shepherd saw Kohoku's face; he was obviously disturbed by the story. "And my men?" Kohoku asked.

"Sent them back to their families, I'm just sorry we couldn't save them" he said.

"No you did enough, thank you, they were good men and they didn't deserve to die like that." Kohoku said solemnly. The team nodded their heads in respect. "What if I told that what happened on Edolus was not an accident" Shepherd eyes widen and the admiral continued. "That someone attracted the Maw on purpose" he said angrily.

'_Someone attracted a maw on purpose?' _Shepherd thought disbelievingly. Thresher maws are some of the nastiest creatures in the galaxy, even krogan weren't crazy enough to take one on without lots of firepower, but for someone to lure them out to, meant on thing, they were facing some sick group. "Who did this?" Ashley said through gritted teeth. Kohoku gave Shepherd a OSD.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Our dirty laundry, they're called Cerberus and they used to be an Alliance black-ops group, gone rogue" Kohoku said. The team was taken aback at his statement. _'They were Alliance?'_ he thought. He was going to ask, but Kaiden beat him to the punch.

"Alliance?" he asked.

"Yeah, not much is known about them, except they were founded in 2157 during the first contact war" Kohoku said.

"Why do this?" Shepherd asked.

Kohoku shook his head. "Don't know, but I know this, they are out of control and need to be put down" Kohoku said angrily. The team nodded their heads in agreement. "I found three of their bases on Binthu in the Yangtze system, go destroy them for my men" he said solemnly.

Shepherd nodded, he respected the man's concern for his men. "What will you do?" Shepherd asked.

Kohoku lowered his head. "Meet with their families, and go to their funerals, it's something I'm not looking forward to" he said sadly. That stuck a cord with the group, they saluted the old admiral, and even Tali who wasn't a member of the Alliance saluted.

"We'll go now sir and your men will rest easy" Shepherd said. Shepherd and team left Chora's Den.

"I feel so sorry for him, to lose his men like that…" Tali said sadly. "Whatever this Cerberus ism their barbaric"

"Yeah, still hard to believe they were allies at one point" Kaiden said.

Ash scoffed. "I'd hardly call a black-ops group allies, too many secrets and I don't trust anyone with that many secrets" she said. "I say the faster we take them out, the more time we can get back to preserving the Alliance's honor" The team made it back to the Normandy, Kaiden, Ashley, and Tali went to their places. Shepherd went to the cockpit.

"Joker, get us to these coordinates"

"Aye-aye, Commander" It was time to go hunting.


	19. Chapter 18: Revenge of the Maw

**Chapter 18: Revenge of the Maw**

Binthu has an atmosphere of carbon dioxide, with a permanent haze of toxic chlorine and clouds of sulphur dioxide that periodically drop torrents of acidic rain on the surface. Its crust is mainly composed of sulphur with deposits of calcium. Binthu's surface's like most worlds in the Voyager Cluster, Binthu has only been charted within the last 20 years by Alliance surveyors. It has no known native ecology. Data about the world is surprisingly brief and generic, painting a picture of an unpleasant and uninteresting place.

"The perfect hiding place" Shepherd said reading Binthu's data. The team landed on Binthu not long ago looking for Cerberus' base. Shepherd had decided to bring Ashley and Wrex along for the mission, Tali had complained about not taking her, but quick kiss was all that was needed to quiet her down. He had promised her she would come along on the next mission with him. Ever since they been a couple, they all of a sudden became more protective of each other. _'We know nothing about Cerberus, I'm not going to put her life in danger needlessly' _he thought. As the Mako drove to its destination, something did not feel right, getting to their base was too easy.

"Skipper…" Ash said. Shepherd looked at her; she was getting the same feeling also. The team spread out across the perimeter, looking for clues of an ambush, there was none. "Nothing over here, skipper, except a…beacon" she said.

Shepherd's eyes went wide, it was a trap. "Shit! Everyone get back to the Mako, on the double" he ordered as the ground began to shake. The team made it to the Mako just in time to be thrown like a rag doll. Shepherd activated the Mako's thrusters to soften the landing. The maw was not done, however and pursued them. "Ash on radar, Wrex you got the guns, let's blow this worm away." Shepherd said. Ash nodded and Wrex gave an unsettling grin and laughed.

"This is going to be fun!" he said activating the weapons.

"I'm so happy for you, I was worried you weren't having fun" Ash said sarcastically. She pulled up the radar systems and kept track of the maw. Shepherd gunned it and moved the mako just before the maw rammed into the tank.

For once Shepherd's reckless driving was a life saver, as the maw could not predict the Mako's movement. Wrex used the Mako's guns to slow down the maw and the cannons to damage it, while Ash kept up with its movements. The maw went underground making Ash lose its position. "Uh, Skipper…" Ash said nervously.

"Yeah I know" Shepherd said. The Mako sped up trying to get out of range of its breaching, if the maw flipped them, was going to be over. The Maw breached barely missing the Mako. "Wrex, cannons" Shepherd ordered. Wrex gave out grin, no matter how times he has seen the krogan grin, it still crept him out. Wrex fired and the maw lost one of its tendrils and gave a shrill cry.

"Ha, he felt that" Wrex gloated. The Thresher Maw soon responded in kind, spitting out its dangerous yellow acid. Shepherd had read up everything on those animals, and he knew that Thresher Maw acid was still a poorly understood chemical substance – but just enough to stay the hell away from it. The Mako went into reverse gear, hard. The force hit them hard, but it was worth it: The acid missed the vehicle...barely. The Maw gave a piecing screech and went after the maw; this one was more aggressive than the one on Edolus, which was saying something.

"Ah, fuck I think we just pissed it off more," Shepherd cursed. Wrex immediately fired the Mako's cannon again as soon as it cooled down. Its slug hit the Thresher Maw with a great force. The beast threw back its head, and vanished in less than a second. The team then felt huge rumblings; the maw was pursing them underground.

"It's still alive!" Ash shouted, to Shepherd's great annoyance. "We need to move!" _'No shit'_.

"I know!" he shouted back. "Now shut it and focus!" He couldn't see how Ash, sitting behind him, took this, but the soldier did shut up. The Commander yanked the Mako forwards again as fast as he could, taking a sharp curve as it breached the surface, only hitting air and some rocks. The maw screeched angrily, and tried to lunge after the team, but kept missing. Shepherd guessed it must have been from when Wrex blew off the Maw's tendrils, it must have messed with its sense of balance, but made it pissed, very pissed. "Can't be sitting ducks," he explained in a hasty voice, "Sorry Ash"

"No worries," Ash replied. The cat and mouse games between the Mako and the Maw lasted for another hour, and that was what Cerberus was counting on, for the Maw to distract them and give them time to escape. Unfortunately, they didn't count on Wrex getting bored of the Maw quickly.

"I'm tired of this thing, time to finish this" Wrex said. _'Easier said than done'_

"How?" Ash asked.

"We better not rely on good luck," Wrex answered. "It's foolish to drive around in the Thresher Maw's nest like that. It's better than standing around, but it might be better even if we copy its tactics. Hit and run, it wants to play dirty, we oblige" he said with a grin.

Shepherd blinked, he wasn't expecting strategy from Wrex. Krogan were mostly known for taking on things head on. "My god, that's fucking genius, Wrex" he said.

It proved to be a successful strategy. Immediately when the Maw showed itself, Shepherd would drive the Mako backwards out of range again, firing at it the whole time. Peppering the Maw with constant fire, took its toll on the beast, the maw was slowing down. The creature tried to counter, but thanks to the combination of a very fine tuned steering system, thrusters and an element zero reactor the Mako easily dodged the acid attacks. The mako got in close to the maw, it was time finish this.

"Wrex light 'em up!" Shepherd yelled. The maw was too slow to react, and at close range the Mako tore into it like paper. The maw roared in pain. "Now the coup de grâce, finish it" Wrex aimed the cannon at the maw's head and fired. The maw's head exploded like a ripe melon and the Thresher Maw was no more.

"Bag 'em and Tag 'em" Ash said with a smirk.

Shepherd slowly drove the Mako to the 'distress beacon' near the base and destroyed it. He flinched when he remembered the acid burns and claw slashes of the dozen mangled bodies on Edolus. '_It must have been a massacre for the marines'_ he thought solemnly.

"They're going to pay" Shepherd said angrily. The team made their inside the base and was welcomed with Cerberus troops aiming their guns at them. Ashley and Wrex awaited orders from the commander. Shepherd gave a vicious smile as he gave his order.

"Take no prisoners, I these bastards wiped off the fucking map" Cerberus was not going to fight Commander Shepherd; today they were to face the Butcher of Torfan. Wrex gave a feral grin and charged for the nearest Cerberus soldier, giving Ash and Shepherd time to get into cover. Shepherd glowed blue and smashed one of them against of the wall, snapping his neck in the process. Ashley shot a cryo canister and the soldiers were frozen solid, she then shattered to pieces. One of the researchers then started to glow blue, and pushed Ash against the wall.

"Ash!" Shepherd said. "Wrex, go get him!" Wrex rammed the researcher to the ground and blasted him with a point-blank shotgun blast. The rest of the Cerberus soldiers retreated deeper into the base, hoping to escape the team's onslaught, but Shepherd had other plans. He threw a grenade and the resulting explosion left bloody chunks all over the walls and floor, Shepherd walked to the next area.

"Not bad for a human" Wrex said somewhat amused. Ash shook her head and followed the Commander. The team went deeper into the base.


	20. Chapter 19: Hades' Dogs

**Chapter 19: Hades' Dogs **

"Fucking Terrorists" she said angrily. Shepherd and his team were in the middle of fire fight with Cerberus in the first base on Binthu. Being a former black-ops group for the Alliance, they proved to be lethal opponents. A Cerberus sniper took aim for head, but was shot down by Shepherd.

"Calm down Ash, you can get angry after they're dead" Shepherd said. Ash nodded and dropped one after the other with her sniper rifle. Shepherd used his biotics and grenades to thin out the herd. Wrex however, tossed strategy out the window and charged at them, due to his robust healing system, it was nothing more than bug bites for the krogan.

Although Ashley didn't trust the krogan, she was glad he was on their side. 'If he keeps this up, I might actually like him' she thought. Another Cerberus troop tried to fire at her, but Ash shot a cryo canister and froze him in place and shattered with rounds from her rifle.

Then she heard Shepherd yell. "This ends now" he said. Shepherd got out of cover and created a biotic storm that made everything fly. Ashley's jaw dropped_. 'Since when could he create singularity field'_ she thought in awe. "Wrex warp field now!" he ordered.

Wrex glowed a brilliant blue and fired a warp field. The clash of biotic energy caused a huge explosion that sent the Cerberus troops flailing back. Ashley approached Shepherd from the terminal. "How did you do that?" she asked dumbfounded.

"Liara taught me, it was a bitch to learn" he said. Ash smirked; she didn't like the Normandy's newest crewmate at first, she didn't trust her, as she was the daughter of one of Saren's allies, but a talk with Shepherd had helped things a little, and she was starting to trust them, although she still kept her eyes on them, except Tali. While she didn't quite trust Garrus, Wrex, and Liara on the ship, she didn't mind Tali too much; in fact the young quraian grew on her. "Ash!" Her thoughts snapped back to the battle, and she saw Shepherd's singularity field lifting another batch of soldiers, Ashley got out her Assault rifle and pelted the soldiers full of holes. The battle ended.

"Ash find all you can on what Cerberus was doing here" Shepherd said. "Me and Wrex will cover you" The soldier nodded and went to the terminals, as the Shepherd and Wrex watched for any ambushes. Shepherd looked back.

"Did you find anything?"

Ash shook her head "Nothing, these Cerberus bastards are good, they wiped everything to cover their tracks" she said. She then heard a beep. "Uh-oh…"

Shepherd frowned. "Uh-oh?"

"I must have entered a trap file, I set off the silent alarms" She said nervously. "We should probably get to cover" Shepherd groaned and the team went to cover as more Cerberus troopers flooded in. Among them was a biotic that threw a few boxes at them. Wrex just got out of cover and smashed the boxes like it was nothing, and charged the biotic. Shepherd overloaded the soldier's weapons, while Ash shot them in the head with her sniper rifle. Meanwhile Wrex was in a biotic tit for tat with the researchers, the two researchers threw warp fields at the krogan, but Wrex just laughed it off and smashed the researchers with his own biotics, and quickly blasted them with his shot-gun. Wrex gave a satisfied smirk and came over punching his fists to together.

"Hah! Never stood a chance!" Wrex said excitedly. Ash was breathing hard, she just didn't have stamina that Shepherd and Wrex had. 'Says the giant lizard from hell' she thought. All of a sudden they heard a growl, it was coming from Wrex.

"Wrex?" Ash said nervously. Everyone in the galaxy knew about the krogan's blood rage, the synergy of two aspects of krogan neurology. The first aspect is a positive feedback loop in which adrenalin, also activated by fear or rage, and suppresses serotonin, the brain chemical that induces serenity. The second is the over-developed krogan limbic system. In krogan, fear or rage shifts mental control from the frontal lobes, responsible for reasoning, to the limbic system, responsible for aggression and survival.

During that shift, krogans exhibit diminished capacity for logic and self-control. Wrex was an ally, so he weren't going to attack, but Ashley had her gun ready just on case. Shepherd saw and made her lower her gun. "Wrex, what's wrong?" Shepherd asked calmly. Ashley saw something at the corner of her eye; it looked vaguely like an insect.

"Uh Skipper? I think I found the reason for Wrex's growling!" she said alarmed. Shepherd turned and saw a roach/spider-like creature running around the base.

"What the hell is that?" Shepherd asked getting his gun ready. Wrex without warning charged the creature. The creature spat something at Wrex, but he dodged it and it hit the wall near Ashley and melted through it. "Shit, acid stay clear of its mouth" Shepherd ordered. Wrex ignored the order and charged again at the creature and knocked it over and blasted his shotgun point-blank into the creature.

"What was that thing?" Ash asked. Wrex looked at them; the fury in the krogan's eye was unsetting to the two humans. Wrex was usually calm and sarcastic with them, but this was the first time they saw the krogan truly angry.

"Rachni," Wrex growled.

Ashley's eyes were wide. "I thought your people killed all the rachni" Ash said.

He looked at Ash while pacing up and down in the room. "We had them all! We had them all defeated and killed! Our greatest triumph! Krogan blood was spilled in the war against them. And now, there are living rachni!"

"Calm down" Shepherd ordered calmly. "Cerberus is done; you think the Council and the Alliance will allow an organization that's studying living rachni to exist? No, they'll hunt them all down for this"

"And what about the bug here?" Wrex asked coldly.

"What about them? If they're more, then you can hunt them to your heart's content" Shepherd said. "If Cerberus brought back more, do you really want to have your fun end here?"

Wrex gave a feral smile. "You've got a quad, Shepherd," he said. "You're right. A true warrior's is not satisfied by just one enemy, but an entire army, how can a krogan not resist?" Ashley looked at them shocked. 'They're both nuts' she thought.

Shepherd grinned. "Let's get these bastards; I'm sure you want to teach these guys not to fuck with a krogan's pride." They rushed to the next base. A long dead enemy making a surprise appearance, whoever these Cerberus people were, they were worse than they thought.

Wrex was a very pissed off krogan, seeing an enemy that your ancestors fought centuries ago well do that to you. _'My people bled and died, because of them. I will not have Cerberus make a mockery of our honor' _he thought angrily. Left and right, Cerberus troops fell like rag-dolls unable to stop the rampaging krogan. Shepherd and team destroyed the first base and made it to the second one. The second base was just as heavily armed as the first one, however unlike their friends before this batch was getting slaughtered like animals.

"G-get away, monster" one of the troops yelled in fear. Wrex just growled and splattered his brains across the floor.

"This place is a dump," Williams commented with distaste. She then saw the base painted red with the blood of Cerberus troops; the sight was very sickening to the human. "You couldn't leave one person alive for questioning?" she asked.

Wrex looked back at the woman. "What would be the point? They won't talk" he said simply. Ash was about to say something, but Wrex continued. "Besides you heard Shepherd, no one is to leave here alive." He said with a feral grin. Shepherd approached the two of them.

"Anything, Skipper?" Ash asked.

Shepherd shook his head. "Empty, just like the first one, you were right they are slippery bastards" Shepherd looked at Wrex. "Feel better?" Wrex looked at him.

"If you mean, if I calmed down, yes" he said calmly. Wrex took a step forward at the energy field keep the rachni caged in. The krogan growled softly, as he stared at the creature that started it all. Centuries ago salarian explorers opened a mass relay to a previously unknown system and met the rachni, who promptly captured them. The rachni used their extensive research on element zero to reverse-engineer the FTL drives of the explorers' starships. They proceeded to build FTL vessels of their own and rapidly expanded into the galaxy, ushering in the Rachni Wars_. 'All because those damn salarians couldn't keep their curiosity in check'_ he thought. In their desperation, the salarians uplifted the krogan to combat the rachni, due to their ability to survive the harshest environments. It took centuries, but the krogan were able to strike at the queens in their lairs and reclaim conquered Council worlds, and the krogan were seen as saviors.

However, the actions of a few stupid krogan, made the galaxy fear them, the genophage was created soon afterwards, turning the krogan into a dying race. Wrex then heard a voice from behind. "Penny for your thoughts?" said Shepherd. Wrex shook his head annoyed.

"During the rachni wars, I lost a lot of my people, they died because of a mistake the salarians made" he said. "Some of them I looked up to" Shepherd looked at him blankly, Wrex have always been closed off, but for him to share, it was different.

"Wait, you knew some of the krogans that fought during the rachni war? How old are you, exactly?" he asked disbelievingly. Wrex looked at the human with an amused grin.

"Old enough to be your ancestor's ancestor" the krogan said amused. Wrex grew serious. "The defeat of the rachni, was the only claim to honor we had, before the genophage stripped us of it, by bringing them back, Cerberus spit on the honor and sacrifice of my people, and for that I can't forgive them"

Wrex went to the console. "Surely you can understand that Shepherd, after all didn't the batarians spit on your honor"

"How did you know about that? I never told you about Mindoir" Shepherd said shocked.

Wrex grinned a little. "'Cause you just told me, whelp"

Shepherd scoffed. "You ass...but yeah, they did" he said. Shepherd then grew serious. "Do what you have to do"

"Glad we have an understanding" Wrex said as he pressed the button releasing the rachni.

Ash saw the krogan over near the terminal; her eyes went wide as she saw Wrex pressing some buttons. "Wait, what are you doing?" Ash said alarmed. Ash went over to stop him, but Shepherd grabbed her arm.

"Skipper, what are you doing? He's-"she said before Shepherd interrupted.

"I know, give support him when he needs it" Shepherd said simply.

The rachni was released and charged at the krogan. The creature was a lot bigger than the one in the first base, and twice as dangerous. The rachni glowed blue and knocked the krogan back a few inches.

"It's a biotic?!" Ash said in alarm. The krogan regained his footing and blasted with warp fields, making the creature stagger a little. They rachni screeched angrily as it unleashed a combination of acid and biotics. Wrex growl a wild battle cry. He threw himself at his enemy with abandon and gusto. He did not care about being hit himself; he just cared about dealing out as much destruction as possible, unleashing bullets and biotic warps at his enemy. Shepherd and Ash looked on with awe, to the humans, the krogan appeared like a force of nature, he was a force of nature.

The rachni used it tendril to impale the krogan, but the old battlemaster just bobbed and weaved and charged at the rachni, forcing the creature to wall. Wrex then punched it against the steel wall, denting it more and more with every blow. The rachni glowed a brilliant blue and pushed the krogan back. When Wrex was stunned, the rachni wrapped its tendril around the krogan's neck and stabbed at the krogan.

"Wrex!" Shepherd said.

"Stay back! This is my fight and my fight only!" Wrex said. The rachni stabbed at Wrex again, but this time the krogan grabbed the tendril and got up. He swung the rachni around and round until the both of the rachni's twin tendrils snapped off and the rachni slammed hard against the wall, this time cracking it. When the rachni was reeling, Wrex came up and finished it with a point blank shot to body. He shot the creature over and over until his gun started to overheat. The krogan walked over to the humans, before collapsing to his knees, panting heavily.

Shepherd came running towards him. "You hurt?" he asked.

"Your sympathy is not needed" he said with predatory grin. He looked at the dead rachni behind him. "Tough sons of bitches, just as I remembered" He came to his feet again cracking his neck. "All healed and ready"

Ash came up to them. "You sure? That was a pretty nasty fight" she said with some concern. Wrex was taken aback by the human's concern. _'Most aren't worried about a krogan getting hurt, must be a human thing'_ he thought.

"Centuries of mercenary work and war, and I've never fell in battle," Wrex commented, " Not going to start now"

Shepherd gave a smirk. "Alright then, let's move out, we got more dogs to kill"

Ashley rolled her eyes. "Really?"

Shepherd shrugged his shoulders. "Hey it works"

Wrex looked at them and grinned, he wouldn't admit it, but this group of ragtag aliens was starting to grow on him. _'Too bad they're not krogan, they would fit in nicely, especially Shepherd.' _He thought. The team destroyed the second base, and went on to the final base; it was time to finish this.


	21. Chapter 20: The Tragedy of Kohoku

**Chapter 20: The Tragedy of Kohoku**

"Shit we're pinned down" Ashley yelled. They had cleansed and destroyed two of the bases, but the last base was hell, even with a giant krogan on their side. "Hold on for a little while, Tali and Kaiden should be done soon, just hold on and keep those helmets on" he ordered. _'Come on, rookie, you can do this'_ he thought. For the last base, Shepherd asked for Tali and Kaiden help, he knew the last base would be the most heavily armed, so he decided to cut out the middle man and just sabotage the life support to the base, an old trick he was dusting off from his Torfan days. Of course, it was not welcomed by Tali.

_**The Normandy-Hours before the final assault**_

"_You want me to do what?!" Tali asked. She was not happy with the plan at all. "Wayne, if I do that while you're in there, I could kill you too"_

"_Don't worry, if we keep our helmets on the whole time, we'll be able to survive with the life-support in our suits, besides you and Kaiden will need the distraction" he said calmly. Tali crossed her arms and glared at him. "I'll be careful, I promise" he said softly._

_Tali walked to Shepherd and embraced him. "I'll do it, but you better come back to me, bosh'tet" she said. Shepherd looked at her. "What?"_

"_You're not worried how this is brutal like Kaiden?" he asked. This was a plan that even he didn't like. "I'm asking you to do something that is against your very morals" he said with concern._

_Tali looked at him and sighed. "I will admit, I don't like this, but more because you would be putting yourself in danger, than hurting Cerberus." Tali hugged him tightly. "I'm with you, no matter what"_

_Shepherd smiled. "Thank you, I'll make it up to you, promise"_

Ash's voice snapped him out of his daydream. "I hope this works, skipper, suffocation is not exactly the best way to go" Ash said. Although he did this, before on Torfan anything could happen, one wrong hit from a bullet could shut down his life support, sharing his enemy's fate.

"It will, just trust Tali" Shepherd said. Ash raised her brow at that.

"You sure put a lot trust in Tali, Skipper" she said.

Shepherd blushed. "Just focus on the guys shooting at us" he ordered. The team held their ground, until an alarm started to sound. The Cerberus troops gasped and choked for air. One by one the soldiers fell to the floor slowly dying from the lack of oxygen. _'Should have kept their helmets on'_ he thought. A beep from his omni-tool broke his thought.

"Shepherd? Shepherd ,you bosh'tet answer me!" Tali said on her comm. Shepherd raised his com to answer her.

"Right here rookie, we're okay, by the way, good job" he said with a smile. The machines started to hum at they were reactivated. The team took off their helmets. Tali shook her head. "Tali?" He heard a sniff.

"Never, ever do that again, do you know how much it scared me, thinking I was going to kill you, all of you?" Tali choked. Tali started to cry and Shepherd now felt like shit for putting Tali through that, it was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Smooth move, you really know how to treat a lady" Kaiden said. Shepherd rubbed his head sheepishly. 'Now I have to make it up to her'

"Tali, look at me we're fine and I'm sorry I came up with this plan, really" Shepherd said softly. Tali sniffed and nodded.

All of a sudden they heard a scream. "Shepherd get here quickly, we're being attacked something" Kaiden yelled.

'_Tali!'_ Shepherd thought alarmed. He ordered his team and got to Tali and Kaiden's position. They were attacked by a strange creature.

"What the hell is that?" Ash asked. She looked at Wrex.

Wrex shrugged. "Don't look at me, never seen it before either" the krogan said.

The creature looked like the husks they've been fighting, but was green and plantlike. It had Tali by the leg and she tried to kick it off with no success. The creature was clawing its way up her body, with soulless looking eyes staring at her. She never felt such fear in her life, as she desperately tried to fight it off. "SHEPHERD!" Tali screamed

"Get the fuck away from her!" Shepherd yelled. He rushed the creature and gave it a strong biotic kick and got in front of Tali. "You okay?" he asked looking back at her and she nodded. The creature got up and lunged at Shepherd, he tried to punch it back, but rammed him. When it was on top of him, the plant-like creature opened its mouth and spit a green mist on him. Tali ran and kicked the creature from Shepherd and stood in front of to protect him. She then looked back at Shepherd and her eyes went wide with horror.

Shepherd started coughing and was writhing in pain on the floor. "Shepherd!" Tali she said concerned as she went to his side "What's wrong?!" She put her hand on his forehead, Shepherd's head was laced with sweat, his eyes were dilated, and he looked pale like death. "Keelah, you're burning up!"

'_What's happening to me?'_ He was in great pain, his inside felt like they were on fire, despite it, he tried to get up, but his legs were to weak and gave out. _'Got to protect Tali'_ he thought as he collapsed on the floor again. Tali tried to hold him down, so Shepherd would not put himself into anymore danger. "Don't move, you bosh'tet, you've got to rest" Tali choked.

Kaiden took command. "Wrex throw field, Ash on support, this thing is not getting near Shepherd" he ordered. Wrex threw a throw field and Ash hit its leg with her assault rifle. The green creature stumbled on to its back, Wrex ran up to finish the job and smashed its head in with his foot. Kaiden and the team rushed to Shepherd and Tali.

"Shepherd, Shepherd" Tali yelled cradling his body. Her voice was full of tears. _'Good, at least she's safe'_ he thought before everything went black.

Hours later, Shepherd woke up in a familiar place, it was the Normandy's med bay, and his head was throbbing with pain. He felt something to his left, it was Tali sleeping. _'Still cute'_ he thought with a smile. Shepherd gave Tali a kiss on the side, she started to wake up.

"You sleep well, rookie?"

"Wayne!" Tali happily ran up to Shepherd and hugged him like she'd never had before. Squeezing him tightly and holding him close to her.

"Umm Tali…I'm happy to see you too but I can't breathe." Shepherd said strained.

"Oh…I'm sorry I was just so scared." with tears pouring down her face, "I thought I lost you."

"Hey you'll never lose me" Shepherd said as he kissed her mouthpiece.

"Damn this suit, I wish I could kiss you for real" she said sadly. Shepherd put his hand on her cheek.

"Hey, we'll cross that bridge when come to it" he said softly. He kisses her again, until he hears the bay doors open.

"Having fun?" Kaiden said amused. Shepherd sighed.

"You could have knocked, you know" Shepherd said annoyed. Kaiden crossed his arms and smirked.

"Can't, automatic, remember?" he said.

"Yeah, yeah so what happened?" Shepherd asked.

Kaiden sighed. "We had to rush you back, to the med bay, whatever that thing did was potent, but we got you to Chakwas quickly, that poison or whatever it was is out of you system."

Shepherd shook his head. "Any data?" he asked. It was Tali that spoke next.

"It was all cleaned out ,except one location, their base on Nepheron in the Columbia system of the Voyager cluster." She said proudly.

"Good, then we can report back to Kohoku, he'll want to take stab at Cerberus" Shepherd said. It became silent all of a sudden, it was uncomfortable. "Guys?" he looked at Tali and Kaiden, their heads was down. "What's wrong?" he asked with concern.

"It's about Kohoku…" Kaiden said. Shepherd looked at him.

"What happened?" he asked. Kaiden took a deep breath.

"That thing you fought, we got a sample and took a DNA test" he said.

"What was the result?" he asked.

"Extensive rewrite on the cellular level, but the blood remained mostly untouched, we matched that blood to blood in the Alliance medical database, and we got a match" Kaiden said.

Shepherd felt sick. "And?" he asked grimly. Shepherd looked at Kaiden, he looked sick too.

"It matched that of Admiral Kohoku, that thing was Kohoku" Kaiden said. The three of them sat in silence, although the completed their mission, Cerberus in their cruelty had the last laugh,

"Wayne…" Tali said sadly.

"Contact Hackett, he needs to know"


	22. Chapter 21: Failure and Triumph

Yep, it's that wonderful time again, hiatus time, to write more Chapters, so it will be a little wait for a little while, so until more chapters come out, enjoy the ones that are out. Again any ideas to move the story is welcome, just give me a private message on my profile, thank you and enjoy.

**Chapter 21: Failure and Triumph **

It's been two weeks since the Cerberus incident on Binthu that left the crew with a bad taste in their mouths. Whoever Cerberus was, they were excellent in keeping their info a secret and utterly brutal to those who knows their secrets. But to Tali, she was more worried about Shepherd as he has been depressed for days. The Normandy was docking at the Citadel as the crew was going to Kohoku's funeral. Shepherd had begged to keep it closed casket, despite what Kohoku's family wanted. Tali had to agree, no one deserved to see their father or husband's body as a sick joke of science.

She approached Shepherd's room, when she came in; he was dressed in his navy blues. The quarian couldn't stop staring at her human boyfriend; she was so used to seeing him in the blue t-shirt, pants and black combat boots of the rest of the crew. She felt very aroused, but she shook the thoughts from her head, now was not the time. "You look handsome" Tali said with a blush. Shepherd responded with a weak forced smile.

"You look nice too" he said. Then there was silence, an uncomfortable silence. So Tali decided to speak.

"It's not your fault, Wayne, you couldn't have known that Kohoku would be targeted" she said softly. Shepherd lowered his head.

"I know, but that doesn't make it any better" he said. "Where's the rest of the crew?"

"They left for the funeral, we're the only one's here" she said. Shepherd nodded in understanding as he finished with the last button of the uniform. Both of them left for the funeral.

The human funeral was unlike anything she had seen before; it was so unlike Quarian funerals, which is more quick and simple. At first, the Normandy crew had trouble getting in, because this was an Alliance funeral and most of Shepherd's ground team was aliens, but Kohoku's family let them come in, as thanks for wiping out the people that killed the Admiral. The Quarian couldn't imagine putting the body in the ground, when quarians died on the fleet, the captains would say a few nice words to the clan that lost a member, and space them, bodies took too much space and with being stuck on a ship, space was everything. Though she guessed her people's ceremony was a lot like the humans when they were still on their homeworld of Rannoch.

It was very somber; and the cries for lost family and friend filled the air, one moment got to Tali when she saw Kohoku's little granddaughter who was no more than six started crying on her mother's shoulder, while she cried also, it made her remember her mother's funeral, and tears ran down her cheeks. _'I miss you, mom'_. The funeral ended with friend and fellow soldiers offered their condolences to Kohoku's family. Tali went to look for Shepherd, and found him talking to an older human, he had white hair and scar running across his face that made him look very intimidating, also his was wearing the same dress blues as Shepherd, except with more medals he looked very official looking. She overheard their conversation.

"Sir, I have info on Cerberus on Nepheron" he said. The older man rubbed his beard.

"Yes thank you this, we will be able to look for those bastards and avenge him" the old man said turning around.

"Admiral" Shepherd said. The man stopped and looked at him. Shepherd continued. "I want to help hunt them down"

"You feel responsible for his death" the man answered. Shepherd nodded. "Kohoku would be flattered that the first human spectre wants to avenge him, but negative"

Shepherd blinked blankly. "But sir… " The old man held up his hand.

"I know you want to go after him, but now you need to focus on Saren, think of the bigger picture" Shepherd wanted to complain, but was interrupted by the man. "We will handle this, that's an order"

Shepherd sighed and gave a salute. "Yes sir" Shepherd walked away and saw Tali. "So you heard everything?"

Tali nodded. "I'm sorry, Wayne" Shepherd gave a weak smile and kissed her cheek.

"Thanks, but I'm fine" Shepherd walked away with Tali closely following him.

The two were in the wards, heading for the Normandy until a C-Sec officer came to meet him. "Commander Shepard? Lieutenant Girard, Citadel Security." The man said, saluting.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" he asked wearily. Today's events left him very tired and the last thing he need was for someone needing his help.

"There's a girl here, she recently escaped from Batarian space. She... Sir she says she's from Mindoir. I'm guessing she was captured during the raid..." Giraud said.

Tali looked up at Shepherd in surprise. She remembered the night she and Shepherd talked; he mentioned it, but never more than a few words. She was concerned, but was unsure what to say.

Shepherd snapped to attention. "You sure? Is she okay?" he asked.

"Not really Sir... she's... we tried to get her help, but she had a gun and shot one of my men. She is held up in the docking bay..." The Lieutenant took a deep breath. "Sir... she... she says she wants to die."

Tali gasped softly _'That poor girl.'_ She thought. She looked at Shepherd.

"Where?" he simply asked.

"Docking bay A02. We're trying our best to talk her down, but we're slowly losing the fight" Girard said.

"Wayne, that's on the way to the Normandy" Tali said. Shepherd nodded and the two took a shuttle over to the Docks.

Docking bay A02 was surrounded by C-sec officers, trying to talk down the girl with a gun to her head. Each time one of the officers tried to come close, the girl would shoot at the officers, luckily she was very bad shot with the pistol, bit didn't make the situation less tense. Shepherd and Tali made it to the dock. "Stand down, I'll handle it from here" Shepherd ordered. The officers looked back and offered a salute. Shepherd looked for the person in charge and an asari came up to them, she saluted. "Where is she?" He asked..

"Tanza K'lon, she's just up here sir, past the loading dock." The asari said.

"How bad is it?" Tali asked. The asari gave curious glance in Tali's direction, but gave them answers. "She's up there." she began, pointing to area up ahead. "We've tried to talk her down but every time we get close she tries to shoot one of our officers."

Anything you can tell me about her?" Shepherd said.

"We looked through some old Mindoir records, we had a match, Talitha Schwartz" she said. Shepherd looked at Tanza shocked. "You know her?" Shepherd nodded. "Good, since you know her, it will be easier, but if you can't talk her down, we got snipers lined up to take her down."

Tali eyes grew wide. "She's a scared little girl, she needs help, not someone shooting at her" she said angrily.

"I don't like this anymore than you, but I'm just following policy." the asari said calmly.

"But-" Tali was interrupted by Shepherd.

"It won't come to that" he said. The asari nodded. "Let's go, Tali"

Shepherd began to walk toward the dock, the asari spoke. "Wait, take this. It's a sedative, but it's best not force it on her, she's been through enough." She threw a small metal cylinder with a nozzle on top to Shepherd. And the two went towards the docks. Tali looked at him and spoke up.

"How do you know her?" Tali asked.

Shepherd looked at her. "She's my ex-girlfriend's little sister and my sister's friend" he said sadly. "Her older sister died while I was trying to protect her, and I thought Talitha shared her fate, but I was wrong, there's still a connection to my past still alive, I had given up a long time ago…."

Tali nodded. "I understand"

Tali hung back a bit but were still able to get a good look at the girl when she came into view. She was thin, almost emaciated, her head had a thin patch of brown hair that did little to hide the scars and burns that covered it. Tears ran down the quarians cheeks, she had heard of the batarian's brutality to their slaves, but to see it in front of her, was overwhelming.

"You can go back, if you want to, Rookie" Shepherd said.

Tali sniffed and shook her head. "No, now that I've seen her I want help even more"

Talitha whirled around at the sound of their footsteps and pointed the gun at Shepherd. "Stop! Stop! WH…Who are you?" She yelled. The pistol was shaking in her hand, her eyes darted back and forth between Tali and Shepherd.

"It's me Wayne, it's been a long time, Tal, you become pretty like your sister" The Commander said in a friendly tone with a smile.

Talitha blinked her eyes. "H-how do you know me?" she asked cautiously.

"I was your sister's b…friend on Mindoir, I'm your friend too, don't you remember?" he said.

"I remember only fires. Smells of smoke and burning meat... people screaming as they cage them! As they put the metal to their backs Wires in their brains, the pains...don't want the pain" she shook with fear.

"Talitha, it's okay, they can't hurt you anymore, and I'm here" Shepherd said softly.

"I want to believe that... I didn't want to... be there anymore. In the pen... in the cages. Screaming while... while they do things to me..." She shivered, wrapping her arms around her chest protectively. Tali was angry at the thought of what she and Shepherd had suffered at the hands of Batarians. _'Damn them, Damn them all'_

"Talitha, I'm going to take a step towards, no one is going to hurt you, I promise" The Commander said cautiously. Shepherd slowly took a step toward the girl, Tali had her hand on her pistol, if she was a threat to Shepherd she would shoot, but Shepherd looked back at her and shook his head. Tali relaxed her stance.

"Stay! Don't touch me! Never again" She suddenly snapped, the gun pointing back up at him.

"It's okay! I'm not going to hurt you Talitha" Shepherd put his hands behind his head. "My hands will be behind my head the whole time, I promise" She calmed down, and pointed the pistol at the floor. She never took her eyes of his hand. "See we're friends, I grew up on Mindoir too, your family and mine were friends, you played with my sister all the time, do you remember Kyoko, my sister?"

Tears ran down her cheeks and she smiled a little as she nodded. "We always played hide and seek, I would always win, but she never got angry with me." She then lowered her head. "Why are we alive? Why do we live and they die?"

Shepherd lowered his head. "I don't know there have been times where I wanted to join them" he said softly. "I failed them, I should have died with them, but I couldn't…" Tears began to form in Tali's eyes as she watched him hang his head with pain clear in his features.

Talitha dropped the gun as he spoke, her eyes went wide. "What stopped you?" she asked.

Shepherd looked at her and smiled. "I had to put myself back together and keep going, because I wanted to show the batarians, that they can't and won't break me, and to make them proud of me."

"Do you think they could be proud of me too?" Shepherd nodded as he approached her. Talitha looked at him, then at his hand and back, tears still falling from her eyes. Without warning, she jumped into him sobbing desperately as Shepherd held her tightly.

Tali gave a small smile. _'He's had so many tragedies, but he keeps going regardless, Keelah I love him' _

Shepherd pulled the injection-gun out of his belt. "Listen Talitha, this will make you sleep and they'll take you to a place where you can get better. Okay?" she nodded as he pulled the injection-gun towards her. Shepherd pressed it gently against her neck and pulled the trigger.

"Will the nightmares go away?" she asked softly. Shepherd smiled and nodded. Talitha fell asleep in his arms and Shepherd carried her towards the officers with Tali closed behind.

Seconds later, a medical team was sent up with a C-Sec escort and load Talitha in an ambulance. Lieutenant Gerard came up to them and shook Shepherd's hand. "Thank you Commander"

"Just get her some help, and update me on her condition, please" he said softly.

"Yes Sir!" With one last salute, he retreated back down the ramp, leaving Shepherd and Tali by themselves. Tali gripped his hand. "Are you alright?"

"When the Batarians attacked, do you know how old she was then?" Shepherd asked. "She was six and my sister was five, they were just innocent little kids when the batarians attacked, they didn't deserve this…"

"No one does…" Tali said softly.

"But then when I saw Talitha, all I thought was I should have done more, I should have been stronger" Shepherd sadly. "But here I am, as useless now, as I was then" Tali looked at Shepherd; he had tears in his eyes.

She embraced him as he broke into sobs. "That's not true, Wayne, you did more for that girl than you thought. You gave her a second chance" she said softly. "You're not useless, and don' t ever forget that"


	23. Chapter 22: Mo' Money Mo' Problems

**Chapter 22: Mo' Money, Mo' Problems**

Shepherd and Tali went to the embassy lounge so Shepherd could cool down. With Kohoku's funeral and seeing an old friend from Mindoir, the spectre's emotion was pretty raw. As the couple went in, they received a couple of stares from the patrons of the lounge, but Tali ignored them, she was here for Shepherd, not them. Tali and Shepherd sat down.

"We don't have to be here, if your uncomfortable, Rookie" Shepherd said. Tali smiled and place a hand on his cheek.

"As you would say…fuck them" She said. Shepherd gave an amused smirk, Tali was so happy, this was the first time since after the funeral he gave that cocky smile. It meant he was feeling better, little by little. "Would something to drink?"

"Sure, just a cup of water" Tali nodded and went to the vender, as she was waiting for the water, asari in a red and white dress approached her. The quarian rolled her eyes; she was probably coming over to give her hard time, it always the case with her people, the galaxy's punching bag.

"Sorry for bothering you, but I could help but notice your friend" the asari said. Tali glared at her.

"Boyfriend" she corrected curtly. The asari's face grew surprised at the notion of quarian and a human being together, but didn't seem to bother by it.

"Ah, don't worry I'm not interest in your human, but I am interested in the first human spectre" Tali narrowed her eyes at the asari, she didn't care too much for her arrogance, nor did she trust her. The vender beeped and the water came out. "I was wondering if he would like to talk, about a problem"

"Why talk to me?" Tali asked reaching for the water.

"Talking to friends tend clear any misconceptions or distrust" she said. She looked at her, before finally relenting, she shouldn't be surprised that people would ask for him, he was a spectre after all. "I ensure you it is simple"

"Very well, but don't be surprised if he says no, he's been through a lot" Tali said. The asari nodded and the two went back to Shepherd, Tali gave him the water and sat next to him. The asari then introduced herself as Nassana Dantius, an asari diplomat that wanted help a group of mercenaries attacked a freighter where her sister was a crew member. However they since kidnapped her for ransom money, as their family is prestigious and well known. Nassana says that she paid the ransom to the required account but that her sister was not released.

"So why to me, and not C-sec?" Shepherd asked.

"By law, I am required to make any attempted extortion to C-Sec" Dantius said. "However I was afraid Dahlia's safety, so I just paid them, if C-sec finds out I could be in jail!"

Shepherd raised a brow. "Why would they put you in jail?"

"Government representatives are not allowed to negotiate with terrorists, according to the law it would encourage more kidnappings." Dantius said. "I would be stripped of my post and Dahlia would still be in the hands of slavers" Tali looked at Shepherd, he looked bothered by this, and she knew that family was very important to him. Shepherd then spoke up.

"Do you know where she is?" Shepherd said.

"The last message was at in the Artemis Tau cluster" she said. "If you do this, then I'll give you anything you want"

Shepherd shook his head. "I won't do it for payment, I'll get you sister back promise" Shepherd walked away, Tali was about to walk away, but looked back at the asari. Her eyes narrowed, she simply didn't trust Dantius, she went to catch up with Shepherd.

_WARNING: Level 1 Pressure Hazard_

_Sharjila has a very dense atmosphere of ammonia and oxygen. Its temperate surface is mainly composed of alumina with deposits of sulfur. Comm buoys in the system have recently logged a number of unregistered vessels operating nearby._

_Sharjila has an extensive silicon-based, oxygen-breathing ecology. Heavily populated areas are covered with fine silica (silicon dioxide) dust, the respiratory by-product of the world's higher animal forms. High-speed surface winds, often laden with abrasive silica dust, present a hazard. In areas where the wind deposits a great deal of silica, footing can be treacherous. EVAs are discouraged.-Codex_

The last sniper tower fell as the mako fired, the tank's gun then swiveled around as the pirates shot at the tank with their guns, but the tank just mowed them down like they were nothing. The tank then shook hard.

"What the hell?" Shepherd asked. Tali worked her fingers on the console to locate the source of the attack; she found it, a krogan with a heavy weapon in his hand. She then looked at the status of the mako's shields, one more hit and the tank would be destroyed.

"Krogan with heavy weapon" Tali said.

"Got him in my sights" Garrus said. The turian activated the mako's cannon, and pressed the button, the cannon went off and the krogan went flying of the ledge the pirates' HQ was on. "He's done"

"No more hostiles" Tali said. The team got out of the mako and went into the base. The team was careful with their steps as they went along the base, pirates were notorious for booby trapping their base, and luckily these pirates seemed to be novices to that face. As they continued, Shepherd noticed how quiet Tali were since they left the Normandy.

"Hey, rookie, you okay?" Shepherd asked.

"Are you sure we can trust Dantius?" Tali asked. "I don't trust her; something about all this is off"

"You think she might be lying?" He asked. "I don't think so, nobody would lie about the safety of their family, and no one's that heartless…"

"I hope you're right" Tali said worried. The team came into the main room, a shot rang out and they went to cover. Shepherd peeked from cover and saw two snipers, one on the main floor, and a second on the upper floor catwalk, to side was another krogan, and the rest were either human, or turian. A box was then thrown at the team, one of them was a biotic, this was going to be a messy battle.

Shepherd immobilized the Krogan with a stasis field, while Garrus took care of the two snipers. Tali sabotaged the cannon fodder's weapons, and blasted them with pistol fire. The krogan broke free of the stasis and was charging at the team. Shepherd tripped him up with a throw field to the legs, when the krogan was on the floor, the team opened fired killing him before he could come back up. All that was left was the biotic, she blew back Garrus and Tali easily, but not Shepherd. The human countered with his warp field to take away the biotic's barrier, the biotic was good, in fact better than the spectre thought, as he could barely withstand her biotics.

Garrus and Tali went cover to help Shepherd, shooting her to keep the biotic off-balance, she shielded herself with the boxes and threw it at the turian and quarian. Shepherd stopped the box, and threw it back at her, but she forcing the box back to him, the box struggled under the power of the two biotics and was crushed under the power struggle. Tali saw Shepherd was losing ground to the biotic, and saw a canister near the biotic, and sabotaged it. The resulting explosion distracted the biotic long enough for Shepherd gain back ground, the spectre pinned the biotic to the wall, while she struggled in vain, Garrus finished her with gunshot to the head.

Tali came over to Shepherd. "You okay?" she said concerned.

"Yeah, let's find Dahlia" Shepherd said out of breath. The team searched high and low looking for the asari, could not find her anywhere. "This is strange; Dantius said her sister would be here, could she have gotten the place wrong?"

"We could have gotten here too late and they killed her" Garrus said. Tali then called them, Shepherd and Garrus went upstairs to her location. Went came up, Tali was in front of the console with a worried look on her face.

"What is it Rookie?" Shepherd asked.

"You should take a look at this…" Shepherd read the data on the console, apparently Dantius was telling the truth, but not in the way they expected. In truth Dahlia was the black sheep of the prominent family; her sister, Nassana Dantius, a diplomatic emissary on the Citade, and her mother Lian Dantius, one of the major Matriarchs on Thessia. Knowing Nassana would be heavily monitored or even demoted if her sister's activities are revealed, Dahlia decides to blackmail Nassana and receives a large sum of credits as a result. In reality, Shepherd wasn't there to rescue her, he was there to assassinate Dahlia, and keep the dirty family secret from being revealed.

"I'm sorry, Wayne…" Tali said sadly.

"Let's get out of here…" Shepherd said barely containing his anger. The team left the base, to face Nassana.


	24. Chapter 23a: Feros pt1

**Chapter 23a: Feros pt1**

Shepherd went back to the Citadel to face Nassana, the mission was a hoax, a glorified assassination mission to eliminate her sister from ruining their family. And Shepherd fell for it hook, line, sinker; he felt angry, but mostly at himself he should've never agreed to the mission, he was so emotional that he forgotten that not all people could be trusted. A mistake that will not happen again, he made it to the Citadel Lounge, and there was Dantius, sitting smugly and sipping her tea.

Shepherd approached her. "You conniving little bitch!" Shepherd growled.

"Whatever do you mean, Shepherd?" Nassana asked.

"Don't play dumb, we know that Dahlia was a pirate, and that you wanted her gone" Tali said.

Nassana smiled smugly. "And so the truth comes out, it's not personal, but I couldn't let Dahlia ruin us"

"But she was your sister!" Shepherd said.

Nassana scoffed. "And? Do you know how many sisters I have within my clan?" she asked. "Enough where losing one won't make a difference, as long as the family apparatus is intact"

"Now here a little something for your 'support'" She went into her omni-tool and pressed some buttons. "I hope to do business with you in the future"

Shepherd scoffed. "Don't count on it" Shepherd and Tali left, and went back to the Normandy, the ship took off and went into the mass relay. As the ship flew, there was beep and the comm opened.

"Commander, good news, we got a lead on Saren" Joker said. "The colony of Feros, has reported some geth trouble" Shepherd smirked a little, maybe being back on the misson, will help with that bad taste in his mouth from that Dantius mission.

"Joker, get to Feros" Shepherd said.

"Aye-Aye!"

Feros is a habitable world in the Attican Beta cluster. Two-thirds of the habitable surface is covered with the ruins of crumbling Prothean megalopolis. In the millennia since the Prothean extinction, the ruins have been picked over by looters many times. Feros was considered a poor prospect for colonization, as little open ground remains for agriculture. The only sizable fresh water sources are the poles, which are tapped by the decaying Prothean aqueduct system. The dead cities, while in good condition considering their antiquity, are of uncertain stability. Ground level is congested by a dozen meters of fallen debris, and the air is fouled by dust.

In 2178, the human ExoGeni Corporation announced its intention to place a permanent colony on Feros, to thoroughly explore the ruins. The pioneer settlement was placed on the upper levels of the several intact skyscrapers, using the surviving Prothean aqueducts and rooftop hydroponics gardens to support the population.

"ExoGeni should get their money back, this place is in a bad way" Ash said reading the codex. Tali nodded in agreement. Zhu's Hope, the main human colony on Feros, had been hit hard by the geth. The colonists were repelling the geth forces, but barely as they were constantly pounded by wave after wave of attack. Shepherd's intervention in the tunnels had driven off the latest assault. They met with Fai Dan, leader of the colony and Shepherd had ordered his team to help the colony get back on his feet.

Tali, however felt something strange about the colony, like something was out-of-place. After finishing up the varren hunt, the group met a strange man. "Ah! That was a good one" he said laughing hysterically. Shepherd looked at the man warily.

"What hell is wrong with you?" he said cautiously.

The man cheerfully "just invoking the master's whip! Reminds me I'm alive"

"O…kay" Shepherd said.

"Shepherd, we should help him" Tali said moving forward. Shepherd grabbed her hand and shook his head.

"I don't think we can help, mentally anyway." He said.

Tali looked at the man, he seemed to be in pain, but there were no cuts or bruises. The man shook and held his head. "The geth…"

That caught the team's attention. "What about the geth?" Ash asked.

"Thorn in the side of the -" he started, but yelled.

"Thorn in the side of whom?" Shepherd asked.

The man strained as he spoke. "Must fight….but …it's like running… through… thorn bush"

Ash sighed. "We're not getting anywhere, we tell Fai Dan about this guy" Tali and Shepherd nodded in agreement. As they walked back to Zhu's Hope, Tali looked back at the man; she knew something was wrong now. They made it back to the colony base, done with their errands for them.

"Thank you, we should be able to last a while longer." Fai Dan said.

Tali thought about the man in tunnel. "We found a man in the tunnels, he needs help" she said.

Fai Dan lowered his head. "Ian, good man, I'm afraid there is nothing we can do" he said sadly.

"He said something about the geth being a thorn of someone, or something, what did he mean?" Shepherd asked. Fai Dan turn deadly silent, so did his assistant, Arcelia Silva Martinez, they were hiding something. "Out with it, what's going on with this colony?" he asked forcefully.

Fai Dan looked pale. _'They're scared of something'_ Tali thought. Fai Dan and Arcelia looked at each other and nodded. "If you want to know, go to the ExoGeni building that is all I can tell you" he said fearfully. Ash and Tali looked at each other. _'Whatever is at ExoGeni must big'_

"Where's the building?" Shepherd asked. The team took the elevator that led to the skyway. The elevator was a human construction that must have been crammed somehow into the Prothean structure, leading them to what was basically an oversized garage pointed towards the skyway. They were ambushed by geth drones. "Get to cover!" he ordered. Everyone scrambled to what little cover the skyway had. Shepherd and Tali sabotaged the drones and Ashley picked them off with her sniper rifle.

The battle drew the attention colonists. "What happened?" one of them asked.

"Geth drones, do you have weapons?" Shepherd asked. The colonists nodded.

"Good, guard this area" he ordered. The team made their way to the Mako.

The garage door opened.

The view on the skyway was spectacular, despite the fact it was a warzone. The sun sent a dim light through the clouds, and skyscraper tops of alien shapes could be seen to all sides. The skyway itself was not so much a single bridge but an entire structure of different paths, something that must have been a cloud high traffic network between the towers in Prothean times. The support structures for those roads added to the alien nature of the landscape.

"I'm guessing that large white building is ExoGeni" Ash said. The road was long and full of geth juggernauts and geth armatures. Shepherd had to use the maneuverability of the vehicle to its fullest, using both curves and thrusters to evade enemy fire and Ash returned fire.

"Shepherd we got radio chatter" Tali said. It was the voice of a man and woman arguing. "It's coming from that tunnel" the skyway led into such a covered passage, protected by walls, a roof and a gate door, the latter probably installed by humans. As soon as they had passed it, the team got out.

"You can't just leave her, that's my daughter, you bastard!" the woman yelled. The man was scattered and panicky. 'He looks like he has something to hide' Tali thought. Tali moved her leg and a loud clang were heard. '_Kongkek!_' she thought.

"Whose there?" the man asked. Shepherd and team came out of hiding to a room to full of security guards aiming guns at them. Shepherd and his team came out slowly with their hands up and walked into the open.

"Well this is just great" Ash muttered annoyed. The team was surrounded by a group of jumpy guards with guns pointing at them. Ash and Tali looked at Shepherd waiting for an order. Instead Shepherd spoke. "If you're going to point guns at us, you better be ready to fight back" he said dead serious. The guards looked at each other not sure what to do next.

Ash looked on with a smirk. "Better do what he says, your life really does depend on it" she said. The guards stood down.

"No you idiots I didn't give you orders to stand down" the man said alarmed. The woman shook her head and stood forward. "Get back, Juliana!" the man ordered and then turned to Shepard again: "Who are you? What do you want?"

Juliana rolled her eyes and looked at the panicked man. "Relax, Jeong, they're obviously not geth." She looked back at Shepherd. "If you don't mind, please your name"

"Commander Wayne Shepherd," he said annoyed. She could tell he did not exactly enjoy weapons being waved at him. "Alliance Navy and Spectre. And for the health of everyone in here I would suggest never doing that again." He said before adding with a smirk. "We're here to stop the geth siege."

_**Kongkek: Keelish equal to fuck**_


	25. Chapter 23b: Feros pt2

**Chapter 23b: Feros pt.2**

Jeong scoffed. "A human Spectre? Do you really expect us to believe that?" Shepherd glared at him and glowed blue, the security guards held up their weapons. However, one look from the Spectre made them think twice, he looked back at Jeong.

"If you want to test to see if I'm the real deal, be my guess, I would be more than happy to prove it to you" he said coldly. Jeong gulped and shut up, Juliana sighed and shook her head.

"Ignore him, he's just paranoid" she said."' I'm just glad to see a friendly face, and not geth for once"

"Do you know what geth are after?" Ash said bluntly.

Juliana shook her head. "No, they just attack without any warning, it was a massacre" she said. "We were lucky to get out"

"What was at the labs?" Tali asked.

"A lot of research material, that exceeds my pay grade to know" Juliana said. "But the geth have turned the building into a fortress"

Shepherd nodded. "Understood, then we better hurry, it might be a clue to our mission" Shepherd and team began to move out, but Jeong got in the way. Ash shook her head in annoyance, this guy was really asking for it.

"No!" Jeong yelled, "All information in there is property of ExoGeni! The main office won't be happy!"

Shepherd just rolled his eyes and walked past him. "You and ExoGeni can kiss my ass" he said annoyed.

Jeong gave up and dropped his shoulders in defeat. "Just... just don't do too much damage…" he said.

Tali shook her head. "Maaf manusia"

Before they left, Juliana spoke up. "Commander, before you go..." Juliana said. "My daughter, Lizbeth. She's missing..."

Jeong snorted. "She's probably dead…" he muttered. Juliana and Shepherd's group all glared at him, Jeong cowered.

"If I find her, I'll bring her back, you have my word." He said gently. Juliana smiled and nodded.

The group made their way to the ExoGeni building; however the geth wasn't going to make this easy. "Uh! Don't these geth know the meaning of the word, break? She asked annoyed. The Mako mowed down the geth with its cannon and guns. The tank was then rocked hard.

"What the hell was that?" Shepherd asked. Shepherd and Ash heard Tali gasped.

"Colossus! Straight ahead!" she yelled. The geth Colossus, where the armatures were annoying, the colossus were outright menaces, they were larger, with stronger armor. They are equipped with mass accelerator machine guns and a more powerful Siege Pulse mass accelerator cannon that can create craters in the earth.

"Shepherd, what's the plan?" Ash asked. Shepherd gave back and gave a devilish smirk, Ash and Tali paled, that smile meant one thing, Shepherd was going to do something really stupid.

Tali's eyes went wide. "No, no, no please don't tell me you're thinking of…"Tali said before being interrupted. The Mako started to speed up towards the colossus. "YOU BOSH'TET!" she yelled. Shepherd ordered Ash to prep the guns. The Mako fired at the colossus while dodging its siege pulse. The Mako crashed against the Colossus just before it could unleash another siege pulse, and the team was harshly rocked.

"Ash, fire the cannon!" he ordered. Ash aimed the cannon and fired point-blank. The colossus broke apart violently. Ash and Tali glared at their reckless commander, however Shepherd didn't care he was really proud of his so-called 'tactic'. Shepherd looked back with a raised brow.

"What, we made it" Shepherd said.

"Tali you want to do this or should I?" Ash asked. Tali spoke.

"Of all the crazy…do you ever think before you do this stuff?!" She yelled. "You're lucky, the mako can take hits!"

Shepherd just smirked. "And had an awesome engineer" he said simply. "You know you love it, the way I killed that geth turned you on"

Tali blushed and then kicked Shepherd in the shin. "I…you..but….bosh'tet!" she said in frustration.

Shepherd jumped up, holding his shin in pain, he had forgotten how hard quarians could kick. "Aw come on, Rookie…"

Ashley raised a brow at the two arguing. Since Kohoku's funeral, they were becoming too chummy for her liking. She always had eyes for her commander, and seeing how close she was to him was making her jealous. She liked Tali, she saw her as a younger sister, but she was not going let Tali have him. _'Sorry Tali, but I sure as hell ain't willing to give him up to an alien'_ she thought. "We're here by the way, if you're done" Ash said. The two looked sheepishly at each other and blushed.

Tali looked at Ash. "You okay, you seem angry"

"Nothing I'm fine" she said.

The ExoGeni building was large and expansive and full of rubble, the geth had hit it hard. "Split up, if you find any geth, don't take any chances." Shepherd said.

Tali shook her head. "I don't think you should be talking about not taking any chances" she said annoyed. "Considering your stunt with the Colossus and that armature incident on Therum." Shepherd stiffened and blushed at that. Ash blinked at that. _'Just what did I miss on Therum' _she thought.

The group split up looking for any way in. That, however, was easier said than done, the main road was destroyed, likely from geth bombardment and the inner parts of the buildings were surrounded by a geth barrier. No matter through how many corridors they walked, how many staircases they used, how many door frames they checked, there was always a blue energy field in the way. After a while it became frustrating.

"Son of a-, what with protheans and blue energy fields" he said annoyed.

"One its geth, not protean and two I found a way in" Tali said proudly.

"Nice one" Shepherd commented, "but looks like it's a one way drop."

"We have no choice," Ash said simply. "We'll just have to find another way out" Shepherd, Tali, and Ash began to carefully slide down a steep rocky slope. Shepherd was the first one to get out in the open, Ash and Tali then heard a bang and rushed to help. The two women saw Shepherd fighting a group of varren, they went to help. Shepherd lifted them up with a singularity field, while Tali blasted them with her shotgun. That soon gotten the attention of a huge pack that came after them, Ash took out her shotgun and blasted them back while Shepherd thinned the herd with his biotics.

When the fighting was done, the woman with Shepherd introduced herself. "I... I'm Elizabeth Baynham," she said still shaken.

"Juliana's daughter?" Ash asked.

She looked at Ash. "you met my mother? Is she still alive?" Shepherd nodded. "Oh thank god," Lizbeth breathed out. Her voice was weak and tired, and even her knees seemed to give in for a moment, which made the team wonder hold long she's been here.

"What are you doing here?" Tali asked.

"Ah, it's my fault," Lizbeth said, "Everyone else was running and I stayed back to back up data. Next thing I knew, a geth ship latched on and the power went out. I was trapped. I tried to get out, but the way was blocked."

"The geth have docked a ship to this tower?" Shepherd asked. "Why?"

Lizbeth nodded. "I think that it to keep the energy fields up. I've noticed they're laying power cables everywhere, and they seem to lead to the ship. They don't want anyone getting close…to the.."

"Told you it wasn't prothean" Tali said with a smirk.

Shepherd rolled his eyes. "To the what?" Shepherd asked.

"I don't know," Lizbeth said. "but my guess is that they're here for the Thorian. It's an indigenous life form to Feros. ExoGeni was studying it."

Ashley thought back to Ian in the tunnels. "Shepherd"

Shepherd nodded. "Why are the geth interested in this Thorian?" Shepard asked. "What is it exactly, anyway?"

"I don't know," Lizbeth answered. "I think it's a plant being. I know it's very old, thousands of years even. But I don't know why the geth would have any interest in it."

"Maybe they're taking up gardening." Tali said sarcastically.

"Doubt it, but we're stuck in here until that field is disabled." Ash said.

Shepherd nodded. "Time to go hunting then" he said. Lizbeth came up to him and gave Shepherd a white and blue card with her picture and the ExoGeni's logo on it.

"This is my ID card," Lizbeth said, "it will open you any locked doors, or data console. You may be able to find out more about the Thotian, but be careful, the geth are really everywhere."

Shepherd smirked. "More fun for us then" he said.

"Search for somewhere safe, we'll be back soon" Lizbeth nodded and went to a little cavern to hide. Let's go" he ordered. The team went deep into the building.

_**Maaf: Keelish for sorry**_

_**Manusia: Keelish for person**_


	26. Chapter 23c: Feros pt3

**Chapter 23c: Feros pt. 3**

The offices of ExoGeni were empty, like a ghost town, except for the geth and krogan the building. All of a sudden, the group heard a distant, muffled song faintly coming from the main area. "Do you guys hear that? It sounds like… singing," Ash commented. She gripped her assault rifle slightly tighter; she didn't like the unusualness of it.

"It's… a Quarian singing. The song is in Keelish," Tali said in awe. The group looked from the corner; they saw geth on their knees, like they were praying. _'Prayer? Geth pray?'_ Tali got her shotgun ready and were about to fire, Shepherd stopped her.

"Whoa rookie, hold it" he said.

Tali looked at him. "We have the perfect chance to kill them, why?"

Shepherd looked around. "I think we're surrounded" The group looked around the room, the geth had them surrounded, but they didn't attack, they seemed mesmerized by the music. "Ash, sniper rifle, pick them off one by one" he ordered. Ash nodded. Ash loaded her rifle and shot the hoppers on the wall. That got the geth's attention as then attacked. Shepherd used his Stasis field, to freeze the juggernauts. Tali used a few more tech abilities to overload the enemy shields and weapons, and then swapped out to her shotgun, shooting continuous barrages with Shepherd's biotics. Thanks to their teamwork, just a few minutes later the battle was over without any incident; none of them had even lost their shields.

He saw Tali wandering over to the music they noticed earlier; it had played even during the battle. The source was a halo in the middle of the room, which showed a Quarian standing before a emotional audience, singing a soulful Capella. "What's wrong, Tali?" he asked concerned.

Tali lowered her head. "That song was lost to my people for three-hundred years, the geth mocks us" she said softly. "I need to finish my pilgrimage; my people been humiliated enough"

Shepherd hugged her, she blushed. "Then we finish your pilgrimage then"

Tali looked at him. "You'll help?" she asked.

Shepherd smiled. "Of course, you're my girl; I would be a pretty bad boyfriend to not help you"

Tali blushed. " Saya sayang kamu" she said.

Shepherd tilted his head. "What's that mean?"

Tali smiled. "I love you"

Shepherd smiled back and touches his head to her helmet. "Saya sayang kamu to you too" Shepherd and Tali went to catch up with Ash.

"You two took your sweet time" Ash said with a raised brow. "What were you going?"

"Making sure there were no geth left, you know" he said.

"Uh-huh..." She said not really convinced.

They ended up on a catwalk that overlooked a large hall. Two monstrous metallic machines loomed over the room from the opposite wall, both connected to a huge amount of cables and tubes, entangled in such a mess that made them look like tentacles springing forth from a monster.

"Damn that's huge" Ash said.

Tali commented with a subdued voice, "they use those claws to anchor their ships at the side of buildings."

"Is there any way to get it of the building?" Shepherd asked.

"It will be difficult," Tali answered." The claws have weaknesses, but the geth are very thorough."

"What weaknesses?" Ash asked.

"The arms are the weakest structurally, enough force on the arms and the ship will fall" Tali explained. "The safety mechanism of the door was damaged from the ship anchoring the building"

"If we close with just the right amount of power, then the mechanism will not stop it, and the door will have so much power that it will cut through the arms."

"Sounds like a plan" he said. "We'll cover you"

The ensuing battle was rough, geth rocket troopers, juggernauts, and shock trooper made for tough enemies, Ash took down the rocket troopers with her sniper rifle, Shepherd lifted a metal box and crushed the shock troopers against the wall. The juggernaut fired at Ash, and the soldier fired at the canister, taking it out. Eventually the battle was done, and Shepherd and Ash stood guard. "You done?" Shepherd asked.

"Done in three, two, and one" she said pressing some buttons. The door holding the claw snapped shut and the Geth ship was rocked loose. The other claws hold the geth ship in place could hold due to weight and slid out of the building. The geth ship slid off and dropped like a ton of bricks on the surface below, a faint thud could be heard and then an explosion. The last thing the team saw was black smoke rising into the air.

"Nice one, rookie" he said with a smirk. Tali smiled back and looked at the geth terminal.

"Oh Keelah, Shepherd, Ashley, come see this." Tali gasped.

Shepherd and Ashley saw the info and their face twisted in disgust. "My god..." Ash gasped.

"W-what the hell is this?" he asked in horror. Shepherd's com beeped it was Joker.

"Normandy to Ground team, come on pick up!" Joker said.

"We're here, Joker," Shepherd answered. "What is it?"

"We have a problem, Wayne" Kaiden said. "Something happened to the colonists. They've gone nuts; they're attacking the ship for no reason."

"We know what happened to them," Shepherd replied. "Just sit tight. They're harmless."

"Speak for yourself, they're scratching my baby" Joker muttered.

Shepherd raised a brow. "What was that, Joker?"

"Uh, Aye-aye, sir!" Shepherd got back to Lizbeth, he had some words on the nature of the data they found.

"There you are!" she exclaimed. "We should get out of here, I don't think..." Shepherd threw her card at her chest.

"You lying bitch!" Shepherd hissed. "You knew! You knew about Zhu's Hope!"

"I..I" Lizbeth stuttered.

Shepherd read from the file. "In 2183, a small survey team was exploring the ruins when they inadvertently entered the Thorian's lair and were infected with spores. ExoGeni realized what had happened, but instead of protecting their colonists they isolated the settlement to see what would happen and study the Thorian's massive sensory and mind-controlling potential. As ExoGeni watched, it took less than a month for 80% of Zhu's Hope's inhabitants to become infected and begin performing tasks for the Thorian." He said. "After the thrall is under complete control, eventually the spores hollow them out, and they become creepers, mindless drones that only live to protect the Thorian"

Lizbeth was trembling with fear. "I wanted... wanted to help those people."

"Bullshit!" Shepherd said angrily raising his weapon. "Tell me one good reason I shouldn't blow you fucking brains out right here and now!"

"I... I wanted to stop those tests!" Lizbeth said in tears. "But they threatened me. Told me I'd be next."

"Why should I believe you?" he asked. Tali spoke up.

"Before the geth hit, she was in lock-down for her protests of the experiment." She looked at Shepherd and put her hand on his hand. "sayang, she's telling the truth"

Shepherd sighed. "I... I'm sorry"

Lizbeth shook her head. "No," Lizbeth answered weakly. "I did help to create this whole mess."

"Lizbeth, who was the leader of the project?" Ash asked.

"Jeong" she said simply.

They made the long drive back to the skyway tunnel, there they confronted Jeong.

"Mom!" Lizbeth said happily running towards Juliana. The two hugged tightly.

"Hello Jeong" Shepherd said.

"Hah, Shepherd," he said, "Damn it. I knew it was too much to hope the geth would kill you…"

"So you could hide the fact you lead a test to let hundreds be enslaved in the Zhu's Hope colony. That you let them go through all this pain, so that ExoGeni could have a mind control substance."

"What?" Juliana asked in shock. The ExoGeni guards looked at each other.

"He's telling the truth, there's a plant life form beneath the colony," Lizbeth explained. "It has taken control of the colonists through its spores, and ExoGeni knew all along!"

"ExoGeni will want this place purged." Juliana gasped.

"What?!" Tali said.

Juliana continued. "Now that you've figured it out, and there is a chance you could make this public, this would have huge implications on the company, so they're getting rid of the evidence."

"And you won't be telling anyone" Jeong said aiming his gun at Shepherd's group.

"You bastard, they're people, not your sick experiment" Ash said angrily.

The group then heard the sound of guns, being for Jeong. "What are you doing?!" Jeong asked in horror. The guard leader spoke.

"Acting on our conscience" he simply said. He ordered his men to fire on Jeong and Jeong fell dead. The leader spoke to Shepherd. "Jeong was always a snake, but I didn't think he wanted do this" he said solemnly. Shepherd nodded in acknowledgment.

"What now?" Ash asked. Shepherd looked at her.

"We deal with the Thorian" He said. Lizbeth and her mother gave them special grenades to knock out the colonist. The group rushed back to Zhu's Hope. It was easier going back now that they took care of the geth. They made it to Zhu's Hope, and were met with creepers and the colonists shooting at them. The group took cover behind the Mako. "Kill the creepers, but don't shoot the colonists, the grenades will handle them" he said. Tali and Ash nodded. "Let's go" he ordered.

The team fought their way creepers, while knocking out the colonists until they made it to the center of the colony. They were able to free most of the colonists and made it under the colony.

"It's dark" Ash said. Tali used her omni-tool to light the way.

Minutes later they saw the end. "Light" Tali said. They made it to the opening and saw a huge plant creature. "Keelah" Tali said. Ash for once was speechless.

"We're going to need bigger guns." He said. They began to walk nearer the creature, slowly drawing their weapons. There was movement among the tentacles giving the team pause. An asari fell from the creature's mouth.

"Invaders!" she said, "Your every step is a transgression. A thousand feelers apprise you as meet, good only to dig and decompose."

"How cute, the talking salad has a toy" Shepherd taunted. The asari glared at him.

"Shepherd…" Tali said nervously.

"I speak for the Old Growth as I did for Saren," the asari continued, "You are within and before the Thorian. It commands that you be in awe."

"I got a better idea, how about you fuck off and die" he said charging his biotics. The asari glowed blue and attacked."Wipe it out" he ordered.

_**Saya sayang kamu: Keelish for I love you**_

_**Sayang: Keelish for love **_


	27. Chapter 23d: Feros pt4

**Chapter 23d: Feros pt. 4**

A biotic wave hit Shepherd and lifted him into the air, while Creepers came charging at the rest of the squad. "Shit!" Shepherd said.

"Shepherd!" Tali said alarmed. A vicious battle ensued. Tali would have liked nothing more than to focus on the green asari, but it was not possible – the squad was busy enough with keeping the creepers at bay. Several times the quarian had one or two directly in front of her, claws ready to strike. Ash used her rifle to shoot the asari and the biotic field dissipated and Shepherd dropped to the ground, he then decides to return the favor and blast the green asari off the ledge.

"Ash, Tali shotguns, cover me" he said. Shepherd created singularity field and the creepers and the asari smashed into each other. Tali and Ash pick off the stragglers not picked up by the field.

"Can I say that I love your singularity field" Tali said with a smile.

Shepherd smirked. "You can stand to say it more"

"Could you two joke when we're not being attacked by plant zombies" she said annoyed. Tali and Shepherd stood at attention. "How are we getting rid of this thing?" she asked.

"Look, maybe we can hit that" Tali said. She pointed to the Thorian's root-tentacles that attached itself to the wall like an infection.

"Sounds like an idea" he said. They raise their guns and fired. It took some time, but finally it fell under a hail of gunfire, and the root-tentacles dropped. A scream could be heard coming from the Thorian's main body.

"That's got to hurt," Ash said with a smirk "Has to be more of those around." The screams of the Thorian alerted more creepers and asari clones.

Shepherd cracked his neck. "I got the asari, can you handle the creepers?" he asked. The women nodded. "Ok then"

Sure enough the next wave of Creepers came running into the room – accompanied by a green asari, glowing blue. A biotic wave hit Shepard and lifted him into the air, while Creepers came charging at the Tali and Ash.

"Not this time, bitch" Shepherd nullified the biotic field with his own. "Eat this" he threw a warp field a clone but she pushed it away like it was nothing. "Crap"

Tali unleashed her shotgun on the creepers, the dissolved thanks to the incendiary mod to her gun. "Shepherd!" she yelled. The asari clone had him pinned to the wall with her biotics. Tali rushed to his aid. _'You're not getting him this time' _she thought angrily.

"Tali wait" Ash said.

Tali rammed the asari and blasted her with a shotgun. "Take that, bosh'tet" she said. Tali moved to Shepherd's side.

"Well, that didn't last long" Shepherd joked.

Tali shook her head. "pribadi, don't joke about this, you almost died" she choked.

Shepherd kissed her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you" he said softly. Tali hugged him. "You okay?" he said with a chuckle.

"I am now" she said with a smile.

"Tali that was crazy-"she started before seeing Tali in Shepherd's arms. "What the hell is this?" she asked with crossed arms. _'Oh no' _she thought.

"I...Uh...ohh" Tali shuddered. Shepherd put his hand on Tali's shoulder.

"We're dating" he said simply.

Ash looked at him speechless. "But-"she started.

Shepherd raised his hands. "We'll talk after the mission"

"Fine" she said. She was not happy.

The team made their way up destroying the tendrils of the Thorian. Despite the tension, they worked together well shooting the last tendril. Having lost six tendrils, the weight of the Thorian, suspended in the shaft, became too great for the rest to carry. With a last shriek the Thorian fell down the shaft. It took a while until the squad heard a 'thump' from the bottom. Ash was about to speak, but one of the pods started to move. The team directed their weapons against the sac.

An asari fell to the floor; unlike the clones they were fighting her skin was purple, not green. She also still wore what looked like remnants of Commando armor. It was tattered, full of holes, and some stripes of it came peeling off, the largest such case revealing her right breast. She was down asleep.

Shepherd came forward and picked her up. "Tali help me with her" he said. Tali nodded and they made their way above ground. The crew spent two days helping the now freed colonists get back to their feet. Later the team came to the asari, who was now awake for questions.

"Shiala!" Liara exclaimed when she saw the asari, she hugged the asari

"Liara" Tali said, "You know her?" Liara nodded.

"This Shiala T'Soni, my mother's sister, my aunt" she said. The team looked at her and Shiala nodded.

"Shiala, what happened to you?" Liara asked. The asari spoke.

"Thank you for releasing me, little wing. I am finally myself again." Shepherd merely raised an eyebrow in response. "I serve... I served my sister, Matriarch Benezia, Liara's mother. When she allied herself with Saren, so did I. She wanted to lead him to a path of less bloodshed, but she has lost her way, and so have her followers. So had I."

"How is that possible?!" Liara asked shocked. "Mother is one of the strongest people I know, how could Saren influenced her so much?"

"Saren has a warship, Sovereign" Shiala answered. "It is unlike anything I have seen before, it is enormous and incredibly powerful. And it has an insidious ability, the ability to dominate the minds of his followers. The process is slow at first, but in the end it is there is no hope."

"Mind control? You're shitting me!" Shepherd said in disbelief. Shiala nodded.

"It is true" Shiala replied, "I experienced it. The inside of the ship is like another world, you feel drawn to it and you begin to confuse its reality and your own. You begin doubting yourself, and then all of a sudden Saren's words start to make sense, and you follow his every order"

"And... mother fell victim to it?" Liara asked distressed.

Shiala just nodded gravely and sadly. "I'm afraid so…she may not be so lucky like I was, she was the closest to Saren…" she said. "I'm sorry little wing…" Liara lowered her head and tears flowed, she walked out the room.

"Garrus go check on her, she needs a friend now" Tali said. Garrus nodded and walked after her.

"What did Saren want with the Thorian?" Shepherd asked.

"Saren wanted it knowledge, and with my biotics, I could communicate with it" Shiala explained, "Saren offered a trade, the Thorian's knowledge for…for me…"

"Saren sacrificed you?" Shepherd asked in disgust. "That sick fucker"

Shiala scoffed. "However, in the end he betrayed the Thorian" Shiala said. "He had the geth attack the Thorian after he went, so that you could not get the same knowledge as he did"

"What is this knowledge?" Kaiden asked.

"The Cipher" She said.

"What's the Cipher?" Shepherd asked.

"A way to understand the visions of Eden Prime's beacon" Shiala explained, "They were unclear, confusing because they were meant for a Prothean mind. Saren wanted the Cipher, so he could think like a Prothean, in order for him to understand those visions."

"We need that Cipher, give it" He said.

Shiala nodded. "Breathe commander" she said "embrace eternity" Shepherd had the Cipher, but his head was reeling with pain. It was the same sensation he felt at Eden Prime, it was a sensation that could never get used to. Shepherd felt weak in the knees and almost collapse until Tali held him up.

"Are you okay?" Tali asked concerned.

"Yeah, just need to rest a little while" Shepherd said.

Tali glared at Shiala. "If you hurt Wayne, I swear..." she threated. Shepherd put his hand on Tali to calm her down. Ash rolled her eyes.

"What will you do?" Kaiden asked.

"If you let it, I would like to stay with the colonists. They have suffered greatly, and I played a role in their suffering. I would like to make amends." She said.

"Done" he said.

"Skipper, she's too dangerous to live" Ash complained. "All the crap that happened here was because of her and Saren" Shepherd glared at her.

"I don't kill unarmed people, you know that Ash" he said. "Let it go, she wants to make amends, we should let her" Ash sighed and gave up, walking back to the ship. Before she turned the corner, she glared at Tali.

They made it back to the Normandy; the tension was thick to say the least. After the meeting with the council, it was time to talk, Tali was not looking forward to it. She heard talking in the com room.

"So what's this I hear about you and Tali dating" Ash said trying to control her emotions.

Shepherd shrugged. "Just what I said, we're dating"

"Since when?" she asked.

"Since after the Therum mission" he said. "I don't get it; you and Tali are friends, what's the big deal?"

"She's not even remotely human. Liara I can understand, but Tali? Does she have a face under that helmet?" she said. Shepherd glared at her.

"Watch it, Williams" he hissed. She was taken aback at how mad he got at the remark. "Just because you're jealous of her, doesn't give you the right disrespect her"

"Jealous!" Ashley exploded. "Of her?! She's not even our species!"

"And this is exactly why you were that last to know; because of this is how you act "He said angrily.

That struck her hard. "E-everyone else knew?"

Shepherd sighed and nodded. "Yeah they know, the truth was that I wasn't even going to tell you, because of how you felt about aliens"

Ash looked hurt. "So you didn't even trust me, because you thought I was the racist bitch, huh?" Shepherd didn't answer. "Nice to see how you really feel about me" she scoffed.

"Ash..." he said now regretting this talk.

Before she walked out, she spoke. "Do you love her?" she asked softly.

"Yeah" he said. She didn't say anything and walked out and saw Tali.

"Ash..." she started to say.

"Don't" the Gunnery Chief did her best to sound sincere though she was hurting inside. "I hope you two are happy together. I've got gear to clean." She walked away.

Tali came in and saw Shepherd and saw him in pain. "Wayne…"

Shepherd didn't say anything; Tali came to him and hugged him tightly. '_Keelah, I didn't want this' _Unfortunately, it was what she got.

_**pribadi: Keelish for idiot.**_


	28. Chapter 24: Liara's First Mission

**Chapter 24: Liara's First Mission**

"Keep it up, Li!" Garrus said dodging the asari's blows. It was another early day of training in the cargo hold for Liara and the woman was driven, more than she's ever been since she came on board. Garrus thought it must have been the revelation of her mother, Matriarch Benezia, was brainwashed into working with Saren. Liara kicks Garrus high with a round kick, but the turian blocked it easily, and swept her legs, sending her to floor. "You're too predictable, that's an easy way of getting yourself killed"

Liara nodded and got up and tried again, punching and kicking Garrus while he dodged, she had improved slowly but surely. The first time she started to train, she barely could hold her own, but after a while she was keep up with them. Garrus had a growing sense of pride in her improvements; then again she was now mostly spending time with him. Although Shepherd and Ash was still helping with training Liara, things were tense between Shepherd and Ashley. He would have to talk to Shepherd later. The training continued, as Liara was now on the defensive dodging Garrus' blows, she was reacting faster, and then something surprising happened. She grabbed his arm, swept his leg and tossed the turian over the shoulder, Garrus found himself on the floor with a really bewildered look on his face. He was not alone, as Ash and Shepherd looked shocked too; Liara had a grin of satisfaction on her face as she helped Garrus up.

"I hope I didn't hurt you too much" Liara joked.

"Lucky move, I'll get you next time" Garrus huffed. Then he smiled at her. "But really nice job, Li" Liara blushed, just then the intercom opened.

"Commander, incoming message for you, patching through" Joker said.

"Commander, we need your help again" Hackett said. "A group of biotic extremists has captured Chairman Burns from the Systems Alliance Parliamentary Subcommittee for Transhuman Studies. They are holding him hostage on board the Ontario, protesting his vote against providing reparations for L2 biotics."

Shepherd frowned. "What kind of resistance should I expect?"

"The biotic were seen bringing equipment on the ship, so expect traps" he said.

"And the chairman's priority?"

"I would like for him to live, but we have to make it clear, that such tactics is unacceptable" Hackett said. "Top priority is to neutralize the biotics"

"Okay, on it" Shepherd said.

"Updating your galaxy map, Hackett out" Shepherd looked back at Liara, and smirked, if they were going toe to toe with biotics, they were going to need the best in that department, it was time to take off the training wheels for the asari.

"Liara, suit up you're with us" Liara looked at him with surprise, but eventually nodded and went to her locker. Shepherd went upstairs to get ready also.

_The Ontario is a Kowloon class modular conveyor of human design, configured for mixed freight and passenger hauling. It is making a hard burn for the cover of an asteroid cluster._

_Registry: Private Owner, Citadel Station-Codex_

The Normandy docked with the Ontario quietly and safely, with the ship dead in space it was easy enough to do. Shepherd, Kaiden, and Liara came on board expecting trouble, but luckily there weren't any enemies in the entry area. As they went further in, they could here footsteps coming from the main cargo hold, from the sound of it there were lots of them.

"Everyone, watch your backs and expect traps" Shepherd said. Kaiden and Liara nodded, as the team came in, alerting the biotics, the terrorists started to glow blue and threw a couple of throw fields at the team, Kaiden went in front and created a barrier blocking it. Shepherd and Liara created their singularity fields, lifting box and other biotics in the air. Kaiden saw a canister and overload it causing explosion. The comm opened.

"Shepherd, we got movement in the front" Joker said.

"Got it, Joker, wipe these clown off the map" Shepherd ordered. Liara and Kaiden nodded, and glowed blue the onslaught continued as the biotics try to slow down Shepherd's team. A canister was then thrown at the team, and pierced, they moved out-of-the-way as the canister exploded. Shepherd threw one of the biotics back hard against one of her allies, Kaiden sabotaged the biotic's weapons and took a lot of them out. Liara engulfed the rest of the biotics in a singularity field and shot them one by one with her pistol. The comm opened.

"Shepherd, better hurry, the chairman's on his knees" Joker said. "I think the leader is getting ready to execute him"

"Right, we're done here" Shepherd said. "Everyone to the front" Once the squad reaches him; they now had to deal with the leader of the extremists who is holding Burns at gunpoint. The team was in a delicate situation, if they become hostile, the extremists will shoot Burns and then it would turn into a bloodbath.

"See how it is? You write letters, and everyone ignores you. Force is the only thing they appreciate" the leader said.

Shepherd frowned. "It's also a way to get people killed, now let him go, and stand down"

"You don't get to order me around; I'm holding all the cards" He was right, of course the team couldn't down anything crazy, Hackett may have wanted the threat neutralized, but Shepherd wanted it to at least end peacefully, or at least close to peaceful. Shepherd looked back at his team and ordered them to lower their weapons for now. Shepherd also lowered his weapon.

"Please, I was trying to help you people" Burns said.

"Everyone just calm down, let's not do anything we'll going to regret" Shepherd said.

"Why not? What do we have to lose?" the leader asked. "Since the Chairman decided that we don't get reparations, we have nothing left"

"B…But I've changed my mind! Seeing you all, i…it's clear to me…you all deserve…" The leader frowned and held his gun deeper to the chairman's head. This situation was getting out of control fast, they were dealing with a very desperate man and there was nothing more dangerous than a desperate man.

"Don't patronize me! You had your chance, some L2s are nearly crippled because of the implants, but you voted against reparations!" the leader said angrily.

"Don't be stupid, if you kill Burns, not only you'll be on the Alliance's shit list, but you'll lose the one man who can help you!" Shepherd said. The leader looked at Shepherd, with narrow eyes looking any trick the spectre may try.

"Yes if you release me, then I can take another look at the reparation request" Burns said.

The leader scoffed. "We're supposed to believe you?"

"I'm sorry to say this, but you don't have choice, because if that human dies we will be forced to kill you" Liara said. "And your efforts will be for nothing, please see reason"

"Look I'm a L2 like you, trust me I know what you're going through" Kaiden said. "My commander can make sure Burns follows through, you can trust him, but only if you give him a chance"

The leader frowned. "Sure, you promise us freedom, but as soon as we surrender, you'll double cross us"

"I never said I was letting you go, all I'm saying is that Burns will take another look" Shepherd said. "Isn't that right, Burns?"

"Absolutely, I had no idea the L2s were this desperate. If I had known…" Burns said. Shepherd smiled at that, it looked like Burns was getting it from the remorse in his voice. "The reparations will come, for whatever its worth, I promise" The leader looked on thinking about it for a while, he sighed and dropped his weapon on the floor, ending the standoff peacefully.

"You're right, I don't want to die. Maybe something will happen this time. We surrender" the leader said.

Burns stood up facing the team. "Thank you Commander, I'll see to it the reparations come"

Shepherd smiled and nodded. "A fifth fleet cruiser will come and pick you and the prisoners up" The team left the Ontario, to give his report to Admiral Hackett.

"Thank you for dealing with the hostage situation, Commander" Hackett said. "Chairman Burns was quite impressed with how you ended this situation peacefully"

"Your assistance above and beyond formal duties has been noted, Commander" he said. "Fifth fleet out" Shepherd smirked at that, and went down to Liara's room, she was on the cot exhausted from the mission, not surprising considering it was her first one. The asari jumped up when she saw Shepherd, to this day he doesn't know why she keeps on doing that.

"Commander!"

Shepherd chuckled and shook his head. "At ease, T'Soni, I just came in to tell you good job on today's mission"

"Oh, thank you Shepherd" Liara said smiling.

"We'll still continue your training, but expect being called on for missions" Shepherd said smirking. "Welcome to the ground team, Liara"


	29. Chapter 25: Colony of the Dead

**Chapter 25: Colony of the Dead**

A month had passed since that fateful encounter with Talitha at the Citadel. Shepherd kept in touch with her when they were not on missions, because it would help Talitha recover from her trauma of being in batarian custody for so long, and it also helped Shepherd with his own healing with Mindoir. Tali could see it in his face too, Shepherd seemed happier, and other than Ashley, he was joking a lot more with the crew other that the Normandy's ground team and as a plus, their relationship was stronger. Tali and Shepherd were lying in the bed, it would be long time before they could do more other than lie on the bed, but it didn't matter. They both simply enjoyed the presence of one another in the peaceful silence of their cabin. It was a huge surprise to her when Shepherd asked her to move in with him in his cabin.

_**Three weeks ago**_

_Tali was moaning, she didn't get much sleep, the sleeping pods may have been quiet (something she got use to a long time ago) but it sure wasn't comfortable, her back was killing her. A Quarian that had not a good night of sleep was very, very irritable. Something Shepherd had learned the hard way._

"_Morning, rookie" Shepherd said with a smile. Tali glared at him._

"_Shut up" she growled. Shepherd looked at her._

"_Someone's angry, must be that time of the month again "he joked. Tali narrowed her eyes at him at kicked him in the shin hard._

"_Bosh'tet" She said annoyed._

"_Geez, I was joking, no need to try to break my legs" Shepherd said in pain. "What's wrong?"_

_Tali sighed. "Sorry couldn't sleep"_

_Shepherd raised a brow at that. "Too quiet to sleep?" Tali shook her head._

"_No, the sleeping pods are so damned uncomfortable" she growled. "How can you humans stand it?"_

_Shepherd chuckled a little. "A strong back for one" His next words completely surprised her. "Why don't you try sleeping in my bed tonight? Maybe we can share the cabin" he asked simply. _

_Tali blushed. "Sleep in… your room? In your bed? I—wow, I… uh, thank you, that's very generous, but I don't know if that's—are you being serious?"_

_Shepherd nodded. "Sure why not? Everyone knows we're dating at this point and I doubt someone is going to say something"_

_Tali tried to calm down a little. "I don't know Wayne, isn't that a big step for us to start bunking together" she said. Shepherd just smiled._

"_I suppose, but you want a place comfortable and I want my girlfriend by my side" he said simply. "Win-win, I say" Tali lowered her head, Shepherd waved his hand nervously. "Oh, shit, whatever I said, I'm sorry, I was an idiot!" _

_Tali shook her head. "No, you didn't say anything wrong, but….you know we can't do anything" she said sadly. "I'm stuck in this suit…" Shepherd lifted her head._

"_Doesn't matter to me, I'm doing this because I care about you" he gently. His words made her determined._

_"I'll figure something out," Tali responded. "I promise."_

Her thoughts were broken by the sound of Shepherd's Omni-tool. It was Joker. "What is it, Joker?"

"Come to the cockpit, you've got to see this" Joker said.

Shepherd sighed and looked at Tali. "See you later, Rookie" Shepherd left his cabin to go to the cockpit, Tali decided to go down to Engineering, she was sure Adams needed her help. When she got to elevator, she ran into Ashley. Ever since the human found out Shepherd and her were dating, their relationship had cooled, they were still professional, but the atmosphere was tense much like the elevator ride.

"So, how are you and the Commander doing?" Ash asked without emotion.

"Uh, f…fine, you know…uh fine" Tali said. The elevator stopped on the floor.

"Great" Ash said. She went to the weapons bench, and Tali went back to engineering, she looked back at Ash and sighed sadly. She hoped they could be friends again.

_Chasca is a large, but low density world, fundamentally similar to its inner neighbor Inti. Like Inti, Chasca is tidally locked to Matano. The same side always faces the sun, resulting in a scorching day side and a frozen night side. In the temperate areas around the terminator, temperatures average around 30 Celsius. Combined with a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere, this slender band of habitable terrain allows limited colonization by humans._

_Chasca's ring is unique. It appears to be, for lack of a better term, a massive piece of alien "installation art." The rings are made of small pieces of synthetic material, and are almost invisible from space. From the ground, they catch and scatter the light of Matano in picturesque ways. It is not known who created the ring or when._

_Chasca is very early in development, with little more than a few pioneer teams scattered across the surface. Information is being collated about native hazards and ecology, while a massive colonist recruiting drive is gearing up back on Earth.-Codex_

The team was riding along in the mako to the location of their next mission. The silence was of course awkward, because Shepherd had decided to bring along Ash and Tali for the mission. Tali wondered why, considering the tension was a risk to the mission, but Shepherd explained it would good, something about danger repairing disputes. "So, Wayne, what are we doing here?"

"Joker caught wind of an SOS on this planet" Shepherd said. "We look for any survivors, Rookie, you'll exact the data, Ash and I will guard you"

"Understood, Commander" Ash said. The mako drove up the ledge, where they saw a horrifying sight, dragon's teeth, lots of dragon's teeth. Shepherd had told her about the dragon's teeth, the huge spikes that geth use to turn human corpses – and other unfortunate living victims – into husks. Tali felt great sadness at the sight of them, the geth weren't satisfied with ruining her people's lives, they seek to ruin others' lives also. "Just like Eden Prime, dammit…Commander…"

"I know, if there's this many, we can forget about seeing survivors" The mako parked on the side of the building, and got out. Tali looked around quite nervously, when there are dragon teeth, husk are not too far behind. She heard feral growls behind her; she jumped up and latched on to Shepherd. "Whoa, rookie, what the hell?"

"Sorry, I heard something" She then saw, Ashley laughing silently and knew what was going on, she was the one making that noise. She was going to say something, but Shepherd beat her to the punch.

Shepherd frowned. "Not cool, Ash, knock it off"

"Sorry, commander" The team went inside the buildings, it was quiet, too quiet, husks weren't known for stealth, they nothing more than wild animals now, but see nothing was really making the team nervous. And then another growl, Shepherd and Tali glared at Ash. "What? I'm not doing it this time" Another growl, Ash was right, it wasn't her, the team got out their weapons as the growls had gotten louder. And then a scream of pain, Shepherd and Tali looked back and saw Ash grabbing her side, and the cybernetic zombie going in for another hit until a shot rang out. Tali blasted the husk with her shotgun, and then a symphony of growls made themselves known.

Shepherd and Tali surrounded Ash, while she applied medi-gel to her wound. The husks had other ideas as they charged the team. Shepherd glowed blue and used his singularity field tossing some of the husks like rag-dolls. Tali took care of the stragglers with her shotgun, but the soulless creatures kept on coming, if they didn't do something quick, they were going to be overrun. Shepherd threw a grenade at the husks, and the husks were scattered, letting Ash, who was now patched up, and Tali to kill the rest. The battle was done, and Tali went to a terminal in the back.

"Oh Keelah…"

Shepherd looked at her. "What is it, rookie?" Shepherd and Ash looked at the data and their eyes went wide. This colony was actually an ExoGeni research colony, they were working on samples on husk, until Cerberus asked for it, but something happened. Someone from the research team unleashed the husks, and they slaughtered everyone, in the logs of the last survivor, it was revealed that the one who unleashed the husks was a mole for Cerberus, as a way to cover their tracks. Shepherd frowned. "Cerberus…those bastards again"

"But Admiral Hackett and the fifth fleet, dealt with them a month ago" Ash said.

"Cerberus may be a bigger problem than we thought…come on, let's get out of here" Shepherd said. The team got out of the base, fighting more husks as they got out. When they returned to the Normandy, the ship was ordered to blast the dead colony to oblivion. The Normandy then flew away; they never wanted to see such horror again.


	30. Chapter 26: Folly

**Chapter 26: Folly**

Shepherd was up early making his rounds, it was something he always saw Anderson do, when he serving under him. At first he didn't understand why he did it, but Anderson told him that it was the best way to build loyalty with the crew. Shepherd was hoping use the rounds to clear up the cold relations with Ash, he may have dated Tali, but that didn't mean he wanted to lose the gunnery chief's friendship. Shepherd went down to the lower deck, he was going start with Ash first, but when he got there he was disappointed that Ash wasn't there. Shepherd sighed and continued his rounds. After finishing his talk with Tali, the last one on the list was Garrus, who was pacing around the Mako. The turian was restless, which was strange because he was a chill customer most of the time, Shepherd went to check up on him.

"Something the matter, Garrus?" Shepherd asked.

The turian looked at him. "Hmm? Oh Commander, didn't see you there" Garrus said. He continued his pacing.

"You seemed to be nervous about something, what to talk?" he asked. He then smirked. "Problems with Liara?" Garrus stiffened, Shepherd knew how close the turian and the asari had gotten when they were training together. Garrus cleared his throat and regained his composure.

"Ah, no, it's not that, it's about Saren" Garrus said. "Just wondering if we'll ever find him, he's always one step ahead of us and he's got those damn geth" Garrus continued his pacing. "He can't get away, not like the last one"

Shepherd tilted his head. "Last one?" Garrus looked at Shepherd and sighed, this was going to hard for him, Shepherd could just tell. "Look you don't have to tell me, if you don't want to"

"No, you've been patient with me, even when I screwed up…" Garrus said. "Dr. Saleon, he was the last one to get away, the only one…"

Shepherd sat down on the mako. "Who is he?"

Garrus then told Shepherd about Dr. Saleon, a salarian geneticist who used to work on the Citadel. A few years ago, Garrus was assigned to investigate black market trading on the Citadel, and found there was an increase in the sale of body parts. C-Sec was unsure whether it was a lab selling organs illegally, or if a psychopath was dismembering people, yet the situation turned out to be more complex than this. Garrus ran a DNA check on a recovered turian liver, only to find the supposed donor was very much alive. He later found that this turian had worked for Dr. Saleon. Garrus inspected Saleon's lab, but there was no sign of any cloned body parts nor the machinery to grow them — "no salarian hearts, no turian livers, not one krogan testicle".

Running out of ideas, Garrus brought in some of Saleon's employees for a "chat". During the interrogation, one interviewee began bleeding and the C-Sec medics found that he had fresh incisions all over his body. It turned out that Saleon was using his employees — who were usually poor and desperate — as living test tubes: cloning their organs, growing them inside their own bodies, then removing and selling them, giving his employees a small percentage of the profits. If the organs failed to grow properly, Saleon would simply leave them inside the body, with dire consequences for the employees' health.

C-Sec went to arrest Saleon, but, knowing his operation had been discovered, Saleon destroyed his lab, snatched some of his employees and fled the Citadel on his ship. Garrus wanted the Citadel defence forces to shoot Saleon down, but C-Sec overrode his order since the vessel was too close to the station, and Saleon escaped.

Shepherd frowned. "I see why you're so focused on Saren, I would hate that too" he said.

"For the last couple of years, I've tried to find that bastard" Garrus said. "One of my contacts thinks he found him, only under a different name…Dr. Heart, his idea of a joke"

Shepherd scoffed. "A sick joke…" Shepherd's comm opened, it was time for another mission. "Duty calls, Garrus if you want I can find him, and we'll take that bastard out together."

Garrus activated his omni-tool. "I have his ship ID, maybe you can trace it back to him" he said. "Thank you Commander, maybe this will help me focus on the mission"

_Nodacrux is a verdant world with abundant water, temperate climate, a thick oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere and a rich ecosystem. It would seem to be perfect for life. The relatively high percentage of oxygen makes humans feel energized and alive, though it has also allowed insect analogues to grow to frightful sizes._

_Unfortunately, Nodacrux is a case of "almost but not quite." Thunderstorms are as common as on Earth, but in Nodacrux's thicker, oxygen-rich atmosphere, they are deafening and spark constant wildfires. More damning, however, are the large and ubiquitous tufts of pollen that float in the high-pressure air. In humans and other oxygen-breathing species, they cause severe or lethal allergic reactions.-Codex_

The Mako landed on Nodacrux. Upon landing, Kaiden notice some enemy signals on your radar. "Wayne, we better watch our backs, I'm reading multiple enemies not far from us" Shepherd nodded and drove from the south, to a road with switchbacks providing easier access to the facility. When they approached the facility, multiple green humanoids rush at the tank, Shepherd recognized the creature, Thorian creepers. Garrus loaded the gun and took aim at the plant creatures, and fired. The mako's guns mowed down the creepers with no problems, lucky for them while the creepers were dangerous, they weren't very smart. The battle ended and the team got out of the tank.

"Thorian creepers…fuck…" Shepherd said frowning.

"I thought we wiped them out a month ago, don't tell me there are others" Kaiden said.

Shepherd shook his head. "The Thorian was native to Feros, these things were brought here" he said. "Come on, let go in" The team entered the facility; they were met with a sight of dead soldiers and scientists. Along with some dead creepers, the people of the facilty must have tried to fight back, but was overrun by the plant creatures, which meant there were more of them deeper into the base. Shepherd took point and went into the next room first, he heard a growl and the first creeper came up and rushed the team. Shepherd pushed it back with a throw field, while Kaiden and Garrus took down the rest with incendiary modded guns. More of the creepers came at the team, Shepherd had underestimated how many there were.

"Fall back !" The retreated to a long, narrow hallway, but luckily for them the creepers were not smart enough to follow one at a time. So the team let them come at them, funneling the Creepers into a bottleneck, making them easy prey. Shepherd glowed blue and used his singularity field, the swirling biotic storm slammed the creepers into each other and the walls, while Kaiden and Garrus took down the stragglers, ending the battle. The team then went to search for any survivors; they went to the back and met with some scientists who are holed up in the room to the left.

"Rescuers? Thank god" the woman said. She faced her colleagues. "See? I told you someone would investigate that signal"

"Who are you?" Kaiden asked.

"Dr. Sylvia Ross, Chief ExoGeni researcher at this facility" Ross said. "We've been trapped in this room for days, we were almost out of food and water, and you got here just in time"

"Why the hell are Thorian creepers here? I want answers" Shepherd said.

The scientists looked at each other. "How do you know about the Thorian?" Ross asked.

"I killed it, a month ago" Shepherd said. "I know what ExoGeni were doing, so don't try to bullshit me"

Ross sighed. "I see, so the jig is up, so to speak" she said. "These creepers were created using altered from the ones on Feros, we found out we could turn them docile and obedient servants"

"Everything was going fine, up until a few days ago, the creepers then went berserk, only a handful of us made to this room"

"So you fucked with something you shouldn't have, and it bit you in the ass" Shepherd said. "I've heard enough, you're coming with us"

Ross and the other scientists paled. "Look, we did wrong, I know that now. There's no need to report us, right?" she asked.

Garrus frowned. "You were responsible for the safety of the staff and you left them to die" he said. "You might well killed them yourselves"

"Be reasonable, if I go to jail how does this help, anyone?" she asked. "Normally ExoGeni would have my back, but they have a mess to clean up, so how about this? If you let us go, I'll make sure you'll get paid for your efforts"

"Bribing us is not going to help, we're taking you in" Kaiden said.

Ross frowned. "That's not going to happen" she said. "Open fire!" The scientists scattered with weapons drawn, Shepherd sighed and lifted them all up with a huge singularity field. He then threw a grenade, it exploded and the scientist all dropped with a thud. Garrus and Kaiden killed the ones still alive from the explosions.

Shepherd scoffed. "Amateurs…let's get out of here "The team went back to the Normandy.


	31. Chapter 27: Paging Dr Heart

**Chapter 27: Paging Dr. Heart**

Garrus was a very agitated turian, pacing back and forth in the hold of the Normandy. A lot of crew members knew to stay away from agitated krogan, but a turian was different matter. They made sure to stay away from him. "Calm down, please Garrus" a voice said gently. It was Liara, looking concerned at him.

Garrus stopped pacing and sighed deeply. "We're taking too long" he said impatiently. Since he's been on the Normandy, he's had good talks with Shepherd and the crew, once he stopped pissing people off, mostly Wrex and Tali. After the last mission, the Normandy's computer was able to find Saleon's ship, at first he was surprised, he never expected they would find him so quickly, but that quickly wore off and replaced with an eagerness to find the sick salarian and bring him to justice, his way. _'I got you now, you sick fuck'_ he thought angrily.

Liara put her hand on the pacing turian and looked at him with worry. "We'll get him" She said clasping her hand to his face. Garrus nodded. Garrus and Liara had become very close since coming aboard. Because of her inexperience with fighting, Shepherd, Ashley, and Garrus became her teachers, however things started to change, Ashley and Shepherd had some sort of strange tension going on between them, the turian guessed it was because of Shepherd's relationship with Tali and so she stopped training Liara. Shepherd was spending a lot of time with Tali, and keeping the ship in order and stopped training Liara, so Garrus was the only one left to teach her. It went bad at first, she was really inept, without her biotics, but she came around and became better, faster than he thought. "We'll get there, Shepherd haven't let us down yet" she said.

Garrus calmed down, Liara always had a way of calming him down, and he was starting to wonder about his relationship with the young asari. Asari was so long-lived and turians…not so much, he wondered if a relationship between them would work. '_If Shepherd and Tali can make it work, then maybe…' _ The com beeped, they were here, Garrus shook his head of such thoughts, he would think about it later. The MSV Fedele was dark and creepy, just perfect for a mad geneticist. "Stay frosty, people" Shepherd ordered. The team stayed close, watching out for any ambushes, and then the team noticed a strange smell, a smell that was making them sick. "You guys smell that?" he asked.

Garrus growled. "Antiseptic and blood, Saleon's been busy" Garrus said angrily. He looked back at the asari and human, their faces were twisted with disgust. They moved to the center of the ship, it was a maze of boxes, perfect for an ambush. The smell was getting stronger, as they approaching the front of the ship. Garrus looked back a Liara. You okay?" he asked.

"Yes, I fine, thank you for asking" she said was a soft smile. Garrus wasn't fooled; however, he knew she wasn't used to this. This was why he didn't want her to come and because she could get hurt.

_**Six hours ago**_

"_You are not coming" he said. Liara was crossing her arms and stared at him._

"_You're not doing this alone" she said stubbornly. "You said it yourself, he's dangerous, and I don't want you in danger" Garrus scoffed._

"_I should be telling you the same thing, besides you're still a novice when it comes to fighting" Garrus turned his back, but Liara grabbed his arms and he stopped._

"_Please, I want to help, like you helped me…you're…special to me…" she pleaded._

_Garrus blushed and sighed. "Alright, you can come, but don't anything reckless" Liara let him go and smiled._

Garrus shook his head. _'I really have to learn to say no to her' _he thought. All of a suddenthey heard moans; it was Saleon's test subjects.

There were turians, asari, humans, Salarians, even a few Krogan, men, women...all with bodies disfigured and scarred, most likely from Saleon's experiments. Many of the people had ribs poking out of their sickly pale skin; they had a look of starvation on their faces, dark sleepless eyes turning towards the team, so full of hopelessness. And all of them had growing bulges sticking out of their bodies...abdomens, heads, chests; legs...everywhere on their bodies were sickly growths, mostly likely tumors, beneath the skin, pulsating with a dark red from internal bleeding.

"Goddess…" she gasped as tears flowed from her eyes. Garrus looked at her with a pained look; this was not what he wanted her to see. _'We could have stopped this; I could have stopped this'_ he cursed.

"Dear God...what is this?" Shepherd asked in horror. He got back his resolve and spoke. "We're here to help, just stay calm." He said. Shepherd's voice had no effect as one of them, an asari, lunged at him. "Shit" he said as he gunned the woman down. The mutilated people looked down at the dead asari...then at the group...and then cried out as they launched themselves at the group.

"W-what are they doing?" Liara asked in horror. One after another, the test subjects came after them and the team kept gunning the victims down, the team didn't want to fight them, but their aggressiveness meant they had to fight. But this didn't feel right, this was a slaughter, not a true fight, he felt like a simple thug, but then he had a thought. _'This is madness, they have no armor or weapons, they just throwing themselves at us like they want…No…,'_ Garrus thought. The battle was quick and bloody, but the group felt no joy from the battle.

"Why? They never stood a chance. Why this?" Shepherd said softly. Liara was on the floor, crying in her hands. The turian spoke.

"T-they wanted to die, they saw it as us granting them mercy, from their hell" Garrus said grimly.

"He needs to die" Liara said softly. Garrus and Shepherd looked at the young asari with surprise. The young asari was always the most peaceful of the group, always the most reluctant to draw blood, even after her first mission.

"Agreed, that bastard needs to answer for this" he said. Garrus and Shepherd nodded and made their way to the front. There they met with the crazy salarian.

"Oh thank you, you have no idea the kind of trouble I was in" he said. The group glared at him, after the horror they saw, they were in no mood for the salarian's lies. Garrus raised his weapon at the doctor.

"I think we do, Dr. Saleon" Garrus growled.

The doctor's eyes went wide. "N-no, my name is Heart"

"That's rich, coming from a sick son of a bitch like you" the turian growled. He looked back at Shepherd. "How should I handle this?" he asked.

Shepherd gave a cruel glare at the doctor. "Make him suffer, like he made those people suffer" he said coldly. "He doesn't get a peaceful death, got it?"

The turian looked back at the doctor with a murderous gaze. "Gladly, Shepherd, but do me a favor take Liara out of here, she doesn't need to see what I'm about to do." Shepherd nodded and left, Liara was the next one to leave, as she turned she looked back at Garrus and left. Garrus approached the scared salarian as he scurried back against the wall "Now, let's have some fun, Saleon"

"N-no, please mercy!" he said with fear. Garrus grabbed his by the neck and had him against the wall, with his gun shoved in the doctor's mouth. The twisted doctor eyes widen with great fear, just as the turian wanted.

"Mercy, like you gave them mercy?!" he growled.

"Please…mercy…" he pleaded.

"Shut up, you piece of trash" he said. The only thing that could be heard was a scream from the mad doctor and then multiple gunshots. Garrus met back with Liara and Shepherd, he was covered in green blood.

Shepherd frowned. "Well?" he asked.

"It's done" he said. Shepherd nodded leaving him alone with Liara. She did a surprising thing, she hugged him.

"You did the right thing" she said softly.

"Thank you, Li" he said softly. The team went back to the Normandy, after Garrus cooled down from the experience, Shepherd went to see him. Garrus was working on the mako, he was more relaxed now that Saleon was dead, now he would be able to bring his A-game against Saren. "Ah, Commander, just who I wanted to see, think you for finding Saleon"

"No problem, that bastard deserved everything he got"

"Yes, but its more than that, it's made me realize my true purpose" Garrus said. "When this is all done, I'm going back for my spectre training, screw what my father says"

Shepherd blinked. "You were scouted to be a spectre? This is news to me"

"Yeah, it happened some years ago, but my father barred me from doing the training" he said. "One of my many regrets…"

Shepherd smirked. "Well then, you better hurry then, 'cause I'll need a partner when this shit is done"

"You got it, Boss…"


	32. Chapter 28: A Krogan's Honor

**Chapter 28: A Krogan's Honor**

Tuntau is an enormous, low-density terrestrial planet, with a thick atmosphere of methane and helium. Despite being nearly 20 AU from Phoenix, the star's great heat and the insulating thickness of the atmosphere make the surface surprisingly temperate.

Tuntaus' surface the crust is mainly composed of sodium and silicon dioxide with deposits of various light metals. While Tuntau is not habitable, the relative pleasantness of the surface conditions make it a popular location for small ships traveling through the Argos Rho cluster to land for drive discharge. Wrex scoffed. _'A boring planet for a boring mission, perfect.' _Wrex thought.

"This is boring, when are we getting there?" Wrex said annoyed. Tali rolled her eyes and looked back at the irritated krogan.

"That's the sixth time you asked, Wrex, you can keep asking all you want it's not going to make the ride any faster" she said annoyed with the krogan's restlessness.

"I would stop complaining if I had something to shoot" he said simply. Two weeks after finding and killing Dr. Saleon, Shepherd and team got a mission from Admiral Hackett to get rid of pirates in the Argos Rho system. They had been causing trouble for some of the human colonies in the system, the Alliance was getting tired of them, so Shepherd's team was stuck with clean up.

Shepherd spoke. "You won't be bored for longer Wrex; we got cannon fodder straight ahead."

Wrex gave a feral grin and loaded weapons, the mako may not have the power of tomkahs back on Tuchanka, but it came pretty damn close. Wrex aimed and fired and the guards flew like rag dolls. The pirate that was left made a run for it, but was quickly cut down by the mako's guns. "The mako's guns never cease to amaze me, you humans know how to make killing machines." He said with a grin.

"Shepherd looked back and grinned. "Comes from thousands of years of humans killing each other" he joked.

Wrex chuckled at that. "Well now, remind me never to underestimate your people, Shepherd." He said.

Tali shook her head. "Men…" she muttered. They made their way inside only to be greeted with armed pirates.

"Huh, now where have I seen this before?" Shepherd asked. Wrex looked at him.

"Probably, everywhere we go, I hear idiots with a death wish are quite common" Wrex said. The pirates started to fire and the team went to cover.

"You just had to make them angrier" Tali complained.

Wrex shrugged. "Makes things that much more fun" he said with a grin. Shepherd lifted the mercs with a singularity field, allowing Tali to sabotage their weapons causing a huge explosion. Wrex meanwhile was smashing the rest of the mercs against the wall with throw fields. Despite the pirate's numbers, they were no match for Shepherd's team. As the last one fell, Shepherd spoke.

"They never learn, do they?" Shepherd asked. "You would think they would give up when we were dropping them like files"

The krogan smirked. "I think we did the galaxy a favor, the stupid ones tend to breed" he said. The two shared a laugh as they went through the base.

Tali shook her head. "Just great, I dated a krogan" she said. The krogan looked at her.

"Too bad you didn't, we're pretty good in bed" Wrex said with a laugh. Tali were speechless and blushed.

"Wrex…" Shepherd said.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll stop messing with your mate" he said. Wrex knew for a long time that there was something between them from the first time they met. _'Bout time they got together, although I could do without the lovey dovey stuff Kaiden was talking about'_

The team made their way to the center of the base. They then heard clapping and looked up and saw a turian surrounded by snipers. He then heard more clicks from the guns, some mercs made themselves known on the floor they were on, they were surrounded. "Impressive, when I heard only three people were slaughtering my men, I didn't believe, but now I that I have seen you in action, I have to say I'm impressed." The voice said.

"That's nothing you should see the encore" Shepherd said.

"It would be some show, but sadly there will be no encore" he said smugly.

Wrex growled and Shepherd and Tali looked back. "Wrex?" Tali asked.

"You, I thought I recognized you" Wrex hissed.

"You know him?" Shepherd asked. Wrex looked at the human.

"Tonn Actus, this pyjack of a turian, collects artifacts of my people, my families' armor included. He explained. "I had planned to look for Actus once the mission ended and kill the pirate personally, but now it seems you saved me the trouble, Shepherd"

Actus just stood there and gave a smug smile. "Really? Cause it seems you just walked into your death" he said. "You lost the rebellions, krogan, as a famous human once said, to the victor, goes the spoils"

Wrex growled, but Shepherd spoke. "If that's the case then, when we kill you, then the armor will be ours" he said with a grin.

Actus' smile disappeared. "And what makes you think, you'll live long enough to take it?" he growled. "You're surrounded by snipers above you and by my men around you, you haven't the chance"

"Easy, I got a Quarian on my side" Shepherd said. He raised his hand and put multiple enemies in a stasis field. He looked back at Tali. "Now!" Tali activated her omni-tool and sabotaged the snipers's weapons, causing them to explode, also causing the turian to fall back.

Actus looked at them with murderous gaze. "Kill them all" he ordered. The team went to cover, as Wrex charged the mercs, and Tali blasted them with her shotgun. Shepherd lifted the remaining snipers with a lift field and tossed a grenade, scattering them to the ground. Actus got a heavy weapon and to aim at the team.

"Watch it heavy weapon!" The turian fired, while the team scattered, however his men were not so lucky as they were wiped out by their own boss. Actus kept firing on the team, desperately trying to kill them, and he would if he kept firing. Shepherd noticed a canister near his feet and got an idea.

"Wrex can you draw his fire?" Shepherd asked.

"What, I'm bait now?" Wrex asked annoyed.

"You know we can't stand up to rocket fire like you can" Shepherd said. "Now go!" The krogan groaned and ran out of cover with Actus firing at him. "Rookie, when I give the signal sabotage his gun, got it?" Tali nodded and got ready, Shepherd threw the canister with his biotics when Actus wasn't paying attention.

"Now!" Just as the canister was about to hit the turian , Tali came out of cover and sabotaged Actus' heavy weapon, the explosion from the weapon hit the canister and caused a chain reaction making the explosion even bigger. Actus dropped down from the balcony hard, and surprisingly he was still alive.

"And then there was one" Wrex said approaching the weakened turian. Actus was a bloody mess, pleading and sniveling like a worm, asking for mercy from the enraged krogan.

"N-no please, we can work this out" the turian said weakly backing away from the krogan. Wrex stomped on Actus' battered leg and aimed his shotgun at the turian.

Wrex gave a feral grin. "To the victor, goes the spoils, nice quote if you're the victor" he said as he pulled the trigger. The team went upstairs to the storage room; lots of rare and priceless artifacts littered the room.

"Keelah, you could buy a small colony with this" Tali said in awe.

"I wonder if we can take some of it with us, we could always use the funding, considering the Council is cheap as hell" Shepherd said.

Tali crossed her arms looking at him. "Wayne…"

Shepherd sighed. "Fine…I'll contact Hackett, and he can deal with this" he said. He looked over at Wrex scanning the room, until he stopped, he found it. He came over to him holding a white and red armor. "That's it?" he asked.

Wrex nodded. "I can't believe my ancestors wore this crap" he said. There was no love lost for his family, he saw his younger brother as an opportunistic fool, his father, Jerrod, and he tried to kill him over their disagreements on how to move their race forward after the rebellions. Despite all that, it felt strangely good to have the armor in his hands, maybe because his comrades had help. "I owe you Shepherd, Tali…thanks" It was a strange feeling to owe someone something.

Shepherd and Tali were taken aback at the krogan's sincere thanks. "No problem, Wrex, though for a moment there I thought you were getting soft there, old man" he joked,

Wrex chucked at that. "I still can teach you a few things, kid" he said. The team left the now silent base.


	33. Chapter 29: Gift from the Heart pt1

**Chapter 29: A Pilgrimage gift from the heart Pt. 1**

It was a nighttime on the Normandy. Tali was sleeping with Shepherd in their bed when a beep was heard from her omni-tool, waking her up. _'Just when I had a good dream too' _she thought annoyed. As she got out of bed, she took a look back at a sleeping Shepherd. She ran her finger down Shepherd's dark bare chest and smiled. _'Humans are so varied, but I can definitely say black is my favorite color' _she thought. She heard Shepherd snorting in his sleep and gave a small chuckle. _'One day'_ she thought hopefully.

She activated her omni-tool, and stiffed up, it was her father. "A-ayah…h-hello" she thought nervously. Rael'Zorah vas Rayya, admiral of the Migrant fleet was an intimidating man, even from a Quarian standard, the man didn't yell, after all when you're one of the most powerful people on the fleet, yelling wasn't needed.

Rael looked at her. "Tali'Zorah, where are you? It has been months since your last communication and I haven't heard a word from you" he said sternly.

Tali paled and looked back at Shepherd still sleeping peacefully in the bed. She couldn't tell her father that she was sleeping in the arms of not only her captain, but her human boyfriend, she knew her father too well to know where that conversation would lead. She shudders as she thought about Shepherd meeting her father. _'_A_ fight waiting to happen'_ she thought. She did the next best thing; she told him half the truth.

"I'm on the Alliance's ship, the Normandy." She said proudly.

Rael raised his brow. "How do you expect to find something of value to our people on the human's ship?" he asked.

Tali took a deep breath; she really didn't want to argue with him, not after months of not seeing him. "Nakhoda Shepherd asked me to join his crew; I'm helping him with his mission."

Rael's eyes narrowed. Suddenly she felt very small under his gaze. "So you're wasting time, when you should be focusing on your pilgrimage." He said

Tali scoffed. _'He never changes' _she thought. For once, Tali wished that her father could see beyond the fleet. "Ayah, we're after a rogue spectre, it's very important"

Her father shook his head. "That's the council's problem, not ours, yours is to ensure the survival of our race" he said.

Tali slammed her fist on the desk, surprising her father. "No! Saren is allied with the geth, our enemies, they attacked a human colony and killed many innocent people, we can't just ignore it, and the geth are our responsibility"

Rael raised his hand stopping her. "And what can we do huh? How would that help us? The galaxy would still hate us, let the galaxy fend for themselves, like they made us"

Tali lowered her head. "Ayah…"

Her father ignored her. "Stop your foolishness, and get back to your pilgrimage" he said sternly. "I'm an admiral, and there's a lot expected of you. Take your pilgrimage seriously." Rael's image faded out.

Tali sat in silence until she felt strong arms wrap around her, it was Shepherd, and he heard the whole thing. She spoke up. "My father, the admiral, it seems even this is not important enough for him, even my opinion is not important enough" she said softly.

Shepherd turned her around and embraced her. "You're an important part of this team, this mission, and my life, never forget that, sayang" he said gently. Tali felt tears run down her face and buried her head in his chest and cried. Shepherd and Tali held each other the rest of the night.

The next morning, Tali made her way to the crew area to get something for breakfast. The talk with her father last night soured her mood, and the crew took notice as they kept out of her way.

"Morning, Tali" Kaiden said with a smiled. Tali glared at him.

Kaiden was taken aback at Tali's dirty look. "You ok?" he asked.

She sighed deeply. "Sorry, I had a talk with my father last night." She said sadly.

Kaiden looked at her concerned. "What did he say?" he asked.

Tali lowered her head. "He wants me to stop being foolish, and continue on my pilgrimage"

Kaiden put his hand on her shoulder. "You're not foolish, your father don't know what's he is talking about, you've done a damn good job."

Tali looked at him and smiled. "Thank you" Tali then saw Shepherd walking towards them. "Hi Wayne" she greeted.

Shepherd smiled back. "Feeling better?" he asked.

Tali smiled and nodded. "Yes thank you, what do you need us for?" she asked.

Shepherd's face grew serious. "Hackett called, huge geth forces out in the Armstrong Cluster"

That got Kaiden and Tali's attention.

"Why are they there?" she asked concerned.

Shepherd shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know, but Hackett says that we may be looking at a start of a full scale invasion"

Kaiden spoke up. "He wants us to investigate, doesn't he?"

Shepherd nodded. "We're heading for the first outpost, on Casbin and then Antibaar, so we will be busy for a while, get ready in ten hours." Tali and Kaiden nodded. Shepherd went back to the cabin with Tali following him.

"Wayne" Shepherd looked back. "I'm coming with you"

Shepherd smiled. "Who said you weren't? We still need to get you that gift" Tali's eyes lit up and she pounced him on the bed. "Whoa girl" he said with a laugh.

"Sorry, I'm just glad that I'm going" she said excitedly.

Shepherd raised a brow. "You're happy facing killer robots?" he said.

Tali slapped his chest playfully. "You know what I mean" she rested her head on Shepherd's chest. "Keelah, if we pull this off then, imagine the data about the geth we will get." She then thought about Shepherd. "Won't get in trouble when you give me the data? It would be Alliance, since it is their mission"

"Not if I give them a copy, that way you still get your gift and the brass stay off my ass" he said.

Tali looked at him. "Thank you" she said softly.

Shepherd chuckled and kissed her mouthpiece. "I told you, I'm with you till the end"

Tali smiled. "I know"

_Casbin is a classic "pre-garden" terrestrial world, with conditions similar to those on Earth millions of years ago. It's hot, humid atmosphere is mainly composed of nitrogen and carbon dioxide. An increasing amount of the surface is covered by simple lichen and algae. Should no unexpected calamity occur, these tiny plants will change the atmosphere to an Earth-like nitrogen-oxygen mix over the next few millennia._

_Due to its potential for future habitability and sapient life, Casbin has been designated a Sanctuary World by the Citadel Council. Landing is prohibited by law, and any disturbance of the fragile young ecosystem will result in harsh fines and imprisonment. At present, the planet is passing through the debris trail of a long-period comet.-Codex_

"They came here in force, didn't they?" Shepherd said. Kaiden and Tali nodded in agreement. Shepherd's team was on Casbin on their way to take out the first outpost.

"How do you want to do this?" Kaiden asked. The next thing to come out of his mouth was a surprise.

"There is a lot of them, let's play it safe" The Mako was silent, Shepherd looked back. "What?" he asked.

"You usually rush in with no plan" Tali said. Kaiden spoke up.

"She's right, I think hell has frozen over" he joked.

Shepherd rolled his eyes. "Whatever, we can drive to the tops of those hills and snipe them from here" Shepherd said. "Got it?" Kaiden and Tali nodded.

The Mako drove up the hill; it had a great vantage point overlooking the geth outpost. "What do you have on radar, Kaiden?" Shepherd asked.

Kaiden looked at the radar. "The outpost is guarded by geth snipers and rocket troopers, they don't seem to notice our position" he said.

Shepherd nodded. "Tali get ready"

Tali loaded the Mako's cannons and put it in sniper mode. "Ready Wayne" she said.

Shepherd looked at Kaiden. "Well?" he asked.

Kaiden smirked. "Locked on target" he said.

"Cool, aim for the rocket troopers first, rookie" he ordered.

Tali nodded and fired at the troopers. The geth fired back at the team. "That got their attention" Kaiden said.

Tali looked at Shepherd. "Shouldn't we move?" she asked.

Shepherd shook his head. "No, we're safe at this distance, just keep firing" Tail nodded. Try as they might, the geth could not get at the Mako, but the Mako got at the geth easily. The rocket troopers and snipers were all destroyed. Shepherd breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, mission com-"before Shepherd could finish, the Mako got hit hard. "What hell was that?" he asked.

Kaiden paled. "It's a geth drop ship! We need to get out of here now!" he said alarmed.

Shepherd looked back at Tali. "Rookie keep on firing, I'll make sure we don't get hit again" he said. Shepherd activated the thrusters and the Mako jumped of the hill. "Brace yourself, guys" he said. The Mako dropped hard. "Status report"

"The Mako's good, but I wouldn't try the thrusters from that height again" Kaiden said. Shepherd nodded.

"Noted" he said. The Mako zigzagged so the ship could not get a clear lock as the tank kept firing.

"Shields at fifty, we need to finish this quickly" Kaiden said.

"Agreed, rookie, fire at the geth ship's exhausts" Shepherd ordered. The mako fired and the drop ship was hit hard.

"Wayne, the drop ship is retreating" Kaiden said.

Shepherd breathed a sigh of relief. "One down, two to go, let's get out of here" he said. The mako returns to the Normandy.

_**Nakhoda: Keelish for captain**_

_**Ayah: Keelish for father**_

_**Sayang: keelish for love or lover**_


	34. Chapter 30: Gift from the Heart pt2

I'm back with more Mass Effect B&TB, as always comments on how to make the story better and reviews are welcomed.

**Chapter 30: A Pilgrimage gift from the heart pt. 2**

_Antibaar is a cold terrestrial world with an atmosphere of methane and argon. Its frozen surface is mainly composed of iron with deposits of magnesium. The world has been noted as a possible target for long-term terraforming; if the atmosphere could be increased to the thickness of Earth's, the global average temperature would rise by 10 degrees Celsius._

_Antibaar's combination of low temperatures, high-speed surface winds, and low visibility make it dangerous to explore on foot.-Codex_

The next day, Shepherd and team hit the second outpost. "What do we have, Kaiden?" Shepherd asked.

Kaiden looked at the radar. "Geth rocket troopers, geth snipers like before and uh oh…" Kaiden said.

Shepherd looked back. "Uh oh?" he asked. "What's uh oh?"

"We got a geth colossus in the middle of the outpost; they must have been prepared for us"

Shepherd smirked. "Well, good thing we're not fighting it"

Tali and Kaiden looked at him. "Wait, what do you mean?" Tali asked.

Shepherd activated the com. "Joker, you ready?" he asked.

The com came in. "Got you commander, stealth systems online, getting ready to bomb them" Joker said.

There was huge rumbling and the Normandy came into view. "On my order, unleash hell" Shepherd ordered. "Kaiden radar"

Kaiden nodded and looked at the radar. "The Normandy is above the outpost" he said.

Shepherd gave a vicious smirk. "Joker now!" he ordered. The Normandy fired on the outpost, the geth tried to react, but the Normandy shot them faster than they could shoot back. After the battle, all that was left was a crater where the outpost used to be.

"Overkill, much?" Kaiden said.

Shepherd smirked. "No kill like overkill" he said. Tali spoke up

"When did you set this up?" she asked.

Shepherd shrugged. "Last night, while you were sleeping" he said. "Needed the big guns, for when we have to deal with another geth ship" he then sighed. "although it wasn't easy"

_**Last night**_

"_So you want the cripple to save your ass huh?" Joker said._ _"Got to say, not really digging putting myself in the crossfire"_

_Shepherd rolled his eyes. "And here I thought you wanted to put the Normandy through her paces" he said. "So much for being the best pilot in the Alliance"_

"_Yeah, if you're trying to bait me, you'll have to try better than that" he said._

_Shepherd sighed. "How about this?" I'll buy you the anniversary edition of Fornax, that you keep bitching about, happy?" he said._

"_Fornax and Playboy?" he asked._

_Shepherd pinched the bridge of his nose. "Son of a…fine deal" he said._

_Joker had a huge shit-eating grin. "Pleasure doing business with you commander" he said._

_Shepherd walked to bed. "Yeah…yeah" he muttered._

Tali eyes widen. "So the only reason, he agreed to help us was because you bribed him with porn?" she asked."Why didn't you just order him?"

"You know, I didn't think about it" he said. Tali giggled. "What?"

"You such a softie you know that?" she asked.

Shepherd rolled his eyes. "Whatever, all I know that bastard cost me seven thousand credits" he said. The Mako's alarm sounded.

"Looks like our old friend is back" Kaiden said.

"Perfect" Shepherd said. He activated his com. "Joker, ready to earn that porn?" he asked.

"Hell yeah, commander" Joker said. The Normandy engaged the geth ship; the geth fired at the cruiser. While its weapons were powerful, they were also slow to fire, which Joker used to his advantage, bobbing and weaving easily. The team had to admit seeing their beloved ship gracefully dodging fire was awe-inspiring, equally more when the Normandy fired on the insect-like frigate. The geth ship tried to get away, but it was simply too bulky to do any of maneuvers that the Normandy can do. The Normandy fired its main weapons and the geth ship went up in flames like a bonfire, the Normandy came back around to finish it off. Two missiles struck its exposed core. The explosion was spectacularly brilliant, as parts of the ship rained down with a faint thud.

Shepherd sat back in his seat contently. "I love it when a plan comes together"

"Except now, you'll have to pay seven-thousand credits, for Joker's porno" Tali teased.

"Good luck with that, fearless leader…." Kaiden said with a grin. Shepherd groaned.

_Rayingri is a small, barren terrestrial world. While it possesses a reasonably temperate climate and a number of useful resources, no mining corporation is willing to risk investment. A rogue planetoid, dubbed Vahtz by the first salarian surveyor team, entered the system about ten thousand years ago, and was trapped in a decaying orbit around Rayingri. It is nearing the end of its slow spiral inwards. Earthquakes and cyclonic windstorms are increasingly common on Rayingri._

_Within a few hundred years, the planets will rip each other apart. Some asari travel consortiums have already announced sponsorship of cruises to observe the spectacle.-Codex_

The roar of the Mako echoed on the empty planet of Rayingri. The Normandy had eliminated two of the geth outpost with one to go. The team climbed the hill, but when they got there, they were met with a horrific sight. "More Dragon's teeth, Wayne" Kaiden said shakily. The team had fought the husks lots of time, but they were always with the geth's brutality.

"Nothing's sacred to these things, not even the bodies of the innocents" Tali said barely containing her anger.

Shepherd looked around, he looked disturbed "We can't help them now; we can only put them out of their misery." Shepherd said.

"Where are the husks?" Kaiden asked. Tali and Shepherd looked around; it was quiet, too quiet.

"I don't like this, Wayne, this exactly the geth's style" Tali said cautiously. Shepherd spoke up.

"Let's go in, maybe get information from the terminals" he said. Tali and Kaiden nodded. Inside the base it was just as eerie as it was outside.

"Wayne, I have a bad feeling about this, we're deep in the base and we still haven't seen geth or husks" Kaiden said.

Shepherd looked back. "Yeah I know, just keep your eyes peeled." He said. As they walked through the base, they saw a terminal. "Tali, you know what to do" Tali nodded and looked through the terminal's data while Shepherd and Kaiden guarded her.

"Anything?" Kaiden asked. Tali looked at him.

"This was a simple research base, nothing the geth could use" she said.

Shepherd looked back at her. "So these poor bastards were here at the wrong time"

Tali nodded. "Looks like..." she was interrupted by growls and hissing. A husk jumped out behind the team.

"Behind us!" Kaiden said. The husks poured into the room.

"Tali shotgun, Kaiden you're on biotics with me, make sure these bastards don't get close" Shepherd ordered. The husk launched at Tali, but she stopped it hard with a roundhouse kick to the head. Shepherd and Kaiden pushed them back biotic throws. The husks were flooding the room faster than they could kill.

"There's too many of them!" Kaiden yelled. Shepherd used a singularity field to trap multiple husks.

"Retreat to the entrance, I'll cover you" Shepherd ordered.

"What about you?" Tali asked. "You'll outnumbered, Wayne"

"I'll be fine, now go" Shepherd said. Tali hesitated. "I'll make it back to you, promise" he said gently. Kaiden and Tali nodded and made their way to the entrance. The husks clawed at Shepherd but were blown away by throw fields. More husks came at the spectre, with great fury, only to be stopped by several shotgun blasts. The husks were flooding in more and more, he was going to have to leave and soon. Shepherd's com beeped. "What is it?" he answered. Sounds of battle could be heard from the com.

"We're pinned down by the geth and Tali's been hurt badly." Kaiden said. Shepherd paled when he heard Tali was hurt.

"How bad is it?" he asked alarmed. The com was silent for a second. "Kaiden?!" he said. Kaiden spoke.

"In the stomach, if we don't get her back to the Normandy, she will bleed out" he said. Shepherd's mind raced. _'Nononono, Tali, you can't die'_

"Call the Normandy, and stay in cover, I'll be there soon" he said. Shepherd let loose all of his grenades at the husks and gave himself time to get entrance. When he made it outside he saw Kaiden in cover swarmed by geth, trying to protect a Tali slumped over in the cover. _'No Tali'_ he thought. Shepherd closed his eyes and focused his biotics and caused a huge singularity field lifting the geth. "Take this, you son of a bitch, don't you dare touch my Tali!" he said. "Kaiden, warp field!" Kaiden shot a warp field and it blew the geth away in every direction off the ledge they were own. Shepherd rushed to Tali's side, she was in bad condition and she was bleeding everywhere.

"Tali! Tali… you're going to be okay…j…just stay with me okay…"

"Way…ne…" She said weakly.

"Damnit….Damnit…!" Shepherd said panicking. He rose up and activated his com. "Joker get your fucking ass over here, Tali's hurt!"


	35. Chapter 31: Gift from the Heart pt3

**Chapter 31: A Pilgrimage Gift from the heart pt. 3**

Moments later, Shepherd rushed a bloody Tali into the med bay. Doctor Chakwas forced Shepherd and Kaiden out of the room as she worked on Tali. The hours waiting was painful for Shepherd as he was pacing back and forth in the crew deck, with Kaiden trying to calm him down. Dr. Chakwas came out the med bay. "How is she, doc?" Shepherd said worried.

Chakwas smiled. "She will be fine, you can see her, but don't wake her" she said. Shepherd felt relieved and came in to see her. He saw her asleep and smiled and sat at her side.

"You had me scared again, you are very good at doing that rookie" he said. He grabbed her hand and intertwined his five fingers to her three. "Rest, Tali I'll make sure you get that gift, I promise you" he said softly. He leaned down and kissed her helmet, he then heard the sound of the door open.

"How is she?" Kaiden asked. Shepherd turned to Kaiden and gave him a dry smile.

"She's fine, although I should have listened to Tali, it was an ambush and fell right into their trap" he said sadly "She got hurt because of me…if she had died, Kaiden…" Kaiden put his hand on his shoulder.

"She'll be fine, she's a tough girl" he said. "It was one mistake, Wayne, we all make them. I don't blame you and Tali don't either." Shepherd cheered up a little.

"Thanks" He said. "And the base?"

"Destroyed along with the remaining husks inside and we also got a signal from inside the system."

Shepherd looked at him. "What is it?"

Kaiden face was serious. "They have another base on Solcrum; we believe it is the main one"

Shepherd nodded. "Good, lets finish this, tell Garrus to get ready in four hours" he said.

Kaiden nodded and left the med bay. Shepherd then heard the stirring of Tali waking up. "Tali?" he asked.

"Hey Wayne" she said trying to get up.

Shepherd walked to her and held her down gently. "Whoa, you can't get up, you're still hurt" he said.

Tali lay back down on the bed. "I'm sorry…" she said.

"For what?" he asked.

"For worrying you" she said softly. Shepherd smiled and kissed the top of her helmet.

"Don't be, I'm leader this is all on me…" he said.

Tali touched his face gently. "Wayne…" she said.

Shepherd kissed her mouthpiece. "Shh…just stay here and rest, we'll be back in no time" he said.

Tali nodded. "Okay, just be careful, please…?"

"You got it rookie" Shepherd turned to walk out the med-bay. Before he left, he turned to her. "Keelah Se'lai, sayang" he said with a smile.

Tali eyes widened. "How do you-"

He chuckled a little. "Later, rookie"

_WARNING: Level 1 Heat Hazard_

_Solcrum is the largest moon of the gas giant Notanban. It has a trace atmosphere of krypton and xenon. The crust is composed of various metals with deposits of sodium. As with everybody in the solar system, the surface is scorching hot and thoroughly irradiated by the blue giant Grissom. Surface excursions without proper protective gear are certain to prove fatal._

_On approach to Notanban, Normandy's passive sensor array intercepted a fragmentary coded transmission from the surface of Solcrum. Attempts to decrypt the message were fruitless; it does not appear to be in any software coding language used by the Citadel races. -Codex_

"I'm starting to hate geth colossi" Garrus complained. Kaiden looked at him.

"You and me both" he said. The Mako landed to eliminate the last outpost, but it was easier said than done. The geth came out in force, to protect the last outpost. The entrance to the underground base on Solcrum is guarded by Geth Rocket Troopers in sniper towers and two patrolling Geth Colossi.

"Damn that Colossus is tough" Garrus said. The Mako's guns bounced of the geth.

"The geth have done their homework" Kaiden said. Shepherd looked back at them.

"Stop praising it and focus" he said. Garrus and Kaiden shut up and went back to battle. Shepherd soon noticed something strange about the geth. The geth's leg had a small dent in it. 'Bingo' he thought. Shepherd looked back at Garrus. "Aim for its legs, they seem to be the least protected." He said.

Garrus grinned and nodded. "Got it, boss" he said. The mako fired at the colossus' feet until one of legs collapsed and the geth fell.

"Finish it" Shepherd ordered. Garrus loaded the cannon and fired. The geth exploded.

"Done" Garrus said with a smug smile. The team went in to the base. As the team the team came closer to the middle of the base, they heard singing.

"Is…that is singing?" Kaiden asked. Shepherd nodded.

"Yeah, I heard the same thing on Feros" he said. The team went to a lookout point and saw geth on their knees. In front of them was a halo, of quarian woman singing, it was a little more damaged than the one on Feros.

"They're…praying" Garrus said disturbed. Shepherd looked at Kaiden, he looked disturbed as well. Shepherd had to admit, it was quite the sight to see cold and logical machines having a religion. He then shook his head of such thoughts, he had a job to do.

"Alright, shows over" Shepherd said. Garrus and Kaiden snapped to attention. "Garrus give us sniper support, Kaiden you're with me" he ordered. Garrus and Kaiden nodded. Garrus went to the top and loaded his rifle.

Kaiden widen his overload programs and launched it at the geth. The program disabled the rocket troopers and Juggernauts and Shepherd used his singularity field to sweep up the geth hoppers. Garrus spoke on the com.

"Geth shock troopers, on your left" he said. Shepherd used his lift field and the geth was lifted helplessly in the air. Garrus took his shot at the floating geth. "Thanks boss, watch out more Juggernauts straight ahead."

Shepherd looked at Kaiden. "Use stasis on the juggernauts, make sure they don't get close" he ordered. Kaiden glowed blue and froze the juggernauts in place. "Garrus, shoot them" Shepherd said.

Garrus shot each of the juggernauts in the head destroying them. "Only five left, Shepherd" he said. Shepherd grinned.

"Take a rest, Garrus, we got this" he said. Kaiden disabled the geth's weapon while Shepherd focused and created a big singularity field, engulfing the geth. They then launched their respective warp fields causing an explosion of biotic force.

"No more enemies, boss" Garrus said.

Shepherd sighed, "Good job, regroup with us" he ordered. Shepherd then heard Kaiden.

"Wayne, I think you should see this" he said. Shepherd walked over and looked at the data, a number of encrypted files. In the right hands they could show much about the evolution of the geth since the banishment of the quarians. "Tali is going to be one happy girl" Kaiden said with a smirk.

Shepherd blushed and shook his head. "Just download the damn thing, so we can get out of here" he said annoyed. Kaiden chuckled.

"Don't worry, I'm making a copy" he teased. Shepherd rolled his eyes. When Garrus met up with Shepherd and Kaiden, the team left.

Later, Shepherd was outside of the Normandy's med bay to meet Tali. He was conflicted and for very good reason, although he promised to get her a pilgrimage gift, he was worried. Shepherd looked at the OSD. _'Giving this to her will make her happy, but then…. I won't see her again, possibly ever…I could come up with some bull shit reason to not give her this, but could I really do that to her?'_ he thought. He shook his head, as he thought back to what his father always said to him as a child. _'No, a real man keeps his promises to his friends and especially to his woman, she comes first, no matter what'_ He sighed deeply.

"Wayne?" Shepherd jumped at the voice, he looked back and it was Tali, looking well for a woman who just got shot in the stomach.

"Oh shit, Tali!" he said.

Tali blinked at him. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Shepherd raised his brow. "Am I okay? What are you doing up?" he asked. "You should be resting" Tali giggled.

"I'm fine, Wayne, Dr. Chakwas said I could work, but nothing too big" she said.

Shepherd stared at her. "And you sure you're okay?" he asked concerned.

Tali nodded. "Quarians heal bit faster than humans, as long as I don't overdo it, I should be fine in a couple of weeks"

Shepherd sighed and grabbed Tali's hand. "I think this is yours, rookie" he said with a small smile. In the quarian's hand was a small OSD.

Tali's eyes lit up and she looked at him. "Is this…?" she asked.

Shepherd nodded and Tali hugged Shepherd tightly. "Thank you Wayne, really you don't know how much this means to me" she said softly. Shepherd's expression grew sad. Tali looked at him. "Wayne, what's wrong?" she asked concerned.

"What's going to happen after we stop Saren? What are you going to do?" he asked. Tali looked down.

"I'll have to go back to my people, this is…important to them…." She said sadly.

"Oh…I see" Shepherd said softly. "Will we ever see each other again…? I mean…I could visit you…"

Tali looked away from people. "I…don't know if that's possible, my people don't trust outsiders, so this really could be good-bye" she said sadly. Shepherd lowered his head; it was really not the answer he really wanted to hear. "But, now, you need me" Shepherd looked at her. "I'm not leaving you to fight Saren alone, I love you too much to just abandon you" she said.

Shepherd smiled at her, it might be goodbye soon, but for now Tali would stay with him until the end. He would treasure the time they had left. "No regrets?" he asked. Tali squeezed him tightly.

"Does this answer your question?" she asked playfully.

Shepherd kissed her mouthpiece. "Yes it does, although I wish this was a little more romantic though" he said.

Tali gave a playful smirk. "Don't worry about that, sayang"

Shepherd tilted his head. "What do you mean?" he asked. She tapped her helmet to his head.

"It's a surprise" she teased.

Shepherd raised his brow. "You know, usually when someone says that, bad things tend to happen" he joked.

Tali rolled her eye. "You're a bosh'tet, but you're my bosh'tet"

Shepherd chuckled. "Noted, rookie"

_Sayang: Keelish for love or lover_


	36. Chapter 32a: Noveria pt1

**Chapter 32a: Noveria pt. 1**

It was a normal day on the Normandy, Shepherd had just did his rounds and decided to work out in the cargo hold alone. It helped him clear his mind as he thought about the situation between him and Ashley. Things had been tense between them since he told her about his relationship with Tali. And telling her that he didn't trust her enough to tell her made things worse to the point that they weren't now friends, just a commander and his subordinate. _'I got to fix this'_ he thought. He got up to see Ash, but got a message from Feros.

'_Feros? Who could be calling me from there?' _He activated his omni-tool and saw an asari. "Shiala? How did you get my tool's code?" He asked. He then thought about it. "Wait; don't tell me, Liara right?" Shiala smiled and nodded. Shepherd sighed. "That girl…" he muttered.

Shiala spoke up. "I'm glad you are well commander, I should thank you again for sparing my life"

Shepherd sat at the tool bench. "You're welcome, but I'm guessing you're not here for small talk" he said.

Shiala nodded. "Yes" she said sadly. "I wish it was under better conditions"

Shepherd raised his brow. "The Thorian?" he asked.

Shiala shook her head. "No, though I could see why you would be worried" she said.

"So shoot, what do you want?" he asked. Shiala grew silent. "Shiala?"

The asari looked at him. "An old friend of mine contacted me last night, she saw my sister on Noveria" she said. That caught his attention, they've been on a dry run when it came to leads to Saren and his allies.

"Matriarch Benezia? What is she doing there?" he asked.

Shiala lowered her head. "I don't know, but I do know she is not doing this of her own will" he said. Shepherd didn't believe her story about her being controlled by Saren's ship, mind control was just too crazy to believe, but let it drop for now.

"Okay, got it" Shepherd said. Before he turned his com off, Shiala spoke up.

"Wait Shepherd, bring Liara with you on Noveria, she needs this" she said softly.

Shepherd raised his brow. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Shiala lowered her head. "Let's just say it is for her sake as well as well as my sister's" she said sadly.

Shepherd nodded. "Understood "he said. Shiala's image faded. As he got up from the tool bench, he saw Ashley. "Ash" he said.

Ash gave a dry salute. "Sir" she said without emotion.

Shepherd rubbed his neck sheepishly. "Um, gear up you and Liara are coming with me to Noveria." He said.

Ash nodded. "Yes sir" she said dryly and walked away. Shepherd sighed. _'This is going to be fun' _he thought.

_Noveria is a snowy, rocky world, with most of its hydrosphere locked up in massive glaciers. A privately-chartered colony world, the planet is owned by Noveria Development Corporation holding company. The NDC is funded by investment capital from two dozen high technology development firms, and administrated by an Executive Board representing their interests._

_The investors built remote hot labs in isolated locations across Noveria's surface. These facilities are used for research too dangerous or controversial to be performed elsewhere, as Noveria are technically not part of Citadel space and therefore exempt from Council law._

_By special arrangement, Citadel Council Special Tactics and Reconnaissance agents have been granted extraterritorial privileges, but it remains to be seen how committed the Executive Board is to that principle. Given its unique situation, it is understandable that Noveria is often implicated in all manner of wild conspiracy theories.-Codex_

When the Normandy approached Noveria, they were apparently not on the scheduled arrival list. Joker explained to them that they had a spectre on board, they didn't buy it, but let them through anyway, however Noveria's traffic controller warned them they were being tracked by defense systems and threatens to fire at the Normandy if Shepherd's identity is not confirmed. The spectre hoped that inside things would be friendlier, they would have no such luck. Barely out of the Normandy had the team come across a group of armed people stood in front of them, two human women and a handful of turians. They were all wearing the same armor.

"That's far enough," one of the women called out to them. She had black hair and a calm expression, while the other one had yellow hair and looked much more aggressive. Shepherd looked at the black-haired woman. _'Must be the leader'_ he thought. "This is an unscheduled arrival," the woman explained. "I need your credentials."

Shepherd rolled his eyes. "Wayne Shepherd, Spectre for the council" he said. The guards looked at each other; Shepherd was not surprised his title was pretty new.

"Load of bullshit, ma'am" the blonde said.

Shepherd sighed. "You know people who doubt me, tend to end up dead" he said.

The blonde took a more aggressive stance. "Is that a threat?" she growled.

Shepherd gave smirk. "No, just a friendly warning" he said. The blond was about to say something, but was stopped by the dark-haired woman.

"We'll get you checked out, but in the meantime, firearms are not permitted on Noveria." She turned towards the yellow-haired woman. "Sergeant Sterling, secure their weapons."

At the same time the team was in combat mode, Shepherd and Liara flared up their biotics and Ash had her Assault rifle primed and ready. However, the security personal also had their weapon up too. "Yeah, that's not going to happen" he said.

"Back off, nice and slow" Ash said. "We don't have time for this shit, we need to get inside"

Sterling held up her arm. "Charge and lock" The team could hear the sound of the officers weapons charging, this was going to get bad very quickly. "I would listen to Captain Matsuo, put down your weapon"

"And I say hell no, now let me through or this get ugly, I would hate to mess up that pretty face of yours" Shepherd said. Sterling glared at him.

"We are authorized to use lethal force, I hope you know that" Matsuo said.

Shepherd rolled his eyes. "And I hope you know, that means jack shit to me" he said coldly. The tension was so thick, as the two sides will prepare for a shootout, a voice boomed through the loudspeakers, hurting both sides' ears.

"Captain Matsuo, stand down!" the voice said. "We've confirmed their identity, Spectres are authorized to carry weapons on Noveria"

Matsuo nodded her head. "Understood" she said. She looked back at Shepherd. "I hope your stay is less confrontational, Spectre" The guards walked away glaring at Shepherd's team, Shepherd just sat there with a smug smile on his face.

"Well that was fun" he said.

Ash shook her head. "That was reckless, sir" she said with no emotion. She walked to the security gate.

Shepherd sighed. _'Fixing this will be harder than I thought.' _ They went to catch up with Ash, when they reach the second landing and pass through some scanners and an alarm goes off. The team went to attention, an attractive human woman in a pinkish-red dress came up and turned off the alarms.

"My apologies, spectre Shepherd, just weapon detectors" she said. "I'm Gianna Parasini, assistant to Administrator Anoleis, quite the show you put on"

"Yeah, well I wouldn't have to, if security was more…friendly"

"They were just doing their job" Parasini said.

Shepherd scoffed. "I bet"

"You're not very friendly yourself, I see" she said.

"I'm only friendly until someone puts a gun to my face" Shepherd said. "Anyway, I'm looking for Matriarch Benezia, I heard she was here" Parasini went through the systems.

"Ah, yes an asari by that very name is here, she left for the Peak 15 reseach complex a few days ago, to the best of my knowledge she is still there"

"Good, show us the way and we'll take it from here" Shepherd said.

"I'm sorry, but you will need Administrator Anoleis permission to leave this port, I can show you the way"

"Good, do it" He then saw Liara, her head was lowered.

"So my mother is indeed here," Liara said softly. In all the confusion, Shepherd had forgotten Benezia was there, and that Liara may have to do the unthinkable when they meet the Matriarch.

Shepherd sighed. "Liara, when we face your mother, and we can't talk her down, can you fight her?" he asked seriously. "Can you kill her? This mission is too important"

Liara looked at him and nodded. "If it come to that, I will." She said hesitantly.

"Then let's hope it doesn't come to this then" he said. The team made their way through port Hanshan. While walking to Administrator Anoleis office, the team was getting looks of suspicion that was unnerving to Shepherd. '_This must be what Tali feel all the time' _he thought. They made it to the office, it was time to start their mission.


	37. Chapter 32b: Noveria pt2

**Chapter 32b: Noveria pt. 2**

_Port Hanshan is the capital of Noveria, owned and operated by the Noveria Development Corporation (NDC). Given Noveria's notoriety as a corporate haven for the conducting of ethically dubious, controversial or dangerous research, Port Hanshan's security is near unbreachable, to discourage dissent, espionage or outside interference. Unexpected visits are met with aggressive suspicion, and, even when permitted to land, the impounding of vessels is rigorously enforced._

_The NDC retains the services of one of its member corporations, Elanus Risk Control Services, as a private security and administration force to enforce containment as well as to protect the many facilities and corporations of Port Hanshan._

_As the Noveria Development Corporation is not a member of the Citadel, Noveria is not considered part of Citadel space, and is not subject to Council oversight or regulations. However, the NDC has a standing arrangement with the Citadel which allows Spectres on official Council business access to the planet, much to the dismay of the corporations that maintain facilities on Noveria.-Codex _

They made it to the office; the office was cold, sterile, and bland which matched perfectly with the corporate lifestyle of the planet. "Wow, they must throw some great parties here" Shepherd said sarcastically. "Where's Anoleis?" Parasini nodded and opened the intercom.

"Mr. Anoleis?" Parasini asked. "Commander Shepherd would like to speak to you"

"Waste of time, tell him to schedule an appointment" Anoleis said impatiently.

"Sir, he's a spectre" She said.

Anoleis sighed. "Right, fine, tell him come in"

"Nice guy" Shepherd said dryly. Parasini shrugged. He then turned to his team. "Stay here, I'm going to talk with this Anoleis guy"

Liara stood at attention. "Um, are you sure you won't need help?" she asked nervously.

Shepherd smirked. "Unless, he can make a data pad into a weapon, I think I'll be fine" he said. Ashley rolled her eyes. Shepherd left, leaving Liara alone with Ash. _'I'm already starting to miss him'_ she thought.

Liara always felt nervous around Ashley, it was obvious from the first time they met, that Ashley didn't like her. _'Maybe this time will be different' _she thought. "Ashley" she said. Ashley looked at her.

"What?" she asked. Liara was twiddling her thumbs nervously.

"I've noticed that things have been strained between you and Shepherd" she said.

Ash scoffed. "Eavesdropping, have you?" she asked.

"N-no, I've heard it around the ship" Liara said nervously.

"I'll bet" Ash said. Liara spoke up.

"It's about Shepherd and Tali being together, isn't it?" She asked.

Ash sighed. "Shepherd didn't trust me enough to tell me about him and Tali" she said. Without thinking Liara spoke.

"Are you more upset about him not telling you or that he didn't pick you?" she asked.

Ashley looked at her. "What was that?" she asked angrily.

Liara paled. _'Oh goddess, I'm afraid I may have said too much'_ she thought nervously. Liara took a deep breath. "I've seen how Shepherd is when he is around Tali, he's happy" she said.

"Happy? But Tali's a quarian, she can't even take her suit off, they can't even eat the same food "she said.

"Maybe that doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things with him, I've seen the pain he carried from the times I've melded with him, but I also see great joy" she said. "A lot of that comes from us, but Tali is special, with her life is bearable even precious, it makes coming to terms with his past easier"

"Can you really say you can do the same for Shepherd?" she asked.

Ashley went silent and had a thoughtful look on her face. Ashley sighed. "I…I guess I can't…" she said.

Liara put her hand on her shoulder. "You truly liked him didn't you?" she asked.

Ashley blushed. "Yeah" she said. "He was the first one to truly acknowledge me, not my grandfather's mistake, not my last name, but me" She sighed. "But I guess at the same time, I didn't see him, I was such a bitch to them..."

"Why don't you talk to him after the mission? Despite his rash nature he seems to care for his crew" Liara said.

Ash chuckled. "I will, thank Liara" she said before adding. "So about you and Garrus"

Liara blushed. "U-um..y-you..see..I" she stuttered. They then heard the footsteps of an angry Shepherd. _'Thank the goddess' _she thought.

"Goddammit !" Shepherd yelled.

Ash looked at him concerned. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"That prick, Anoleis, won't let us see Benezia" he said.

Liara shook her head. "Why?" she asked.

Shepherd started pacing and explained that Anoleis told him how Saren and Benezia are involved with Noveria affairs, they were both major investors in Binary Helix, an asari owned genetic engineering and Biotechnology Company. The Company currently had a significant presence on Noveria, and the salarian had basically threatened Shepherd that interference will bring the board on their heads.

"That's bullshit!" Ash said.

"Yeah, I know, we've basically been cock-blocked." Shepherd said.

Liara blushed. "Shepherd! Must you use such language?"

Shepherd sighed. "Sorry come on, we won't find any help here."

Parasini spoke up. "Wait, Mr. Shepherd"

Shepherd stopped. "What?"

"Anoleis is not the only one who can get you out of here." She whispered.

"What can you do?" Ash asked.

"I can't talk too much, Anoleis has eyes and ears all over the place" Parasini said, "But you could talk to Lorik Qui'in of Synthetic Insights. His offices had been wrecked by security forces under Anoleis' orders, so he's understandably quite ticked at the Administrator."

"I bet" Shepherd said. "But why help us? Isn't Anoleis your boss?"

"It's complicated, now hurry, Qui'in is in the hotel lounge," Parasini explained.

The team walked away. "Can we trust her, Skipper?" Ash asked.

"Talking to me are you?" he said with a smirk.

Ash smirked. "Well, the silent treatment was getting kind of boring" she said.

Shepherd grew serious. "Don't know, but I'll be watching my back just in case" he said. They made their way to the hotel. They met with Lorik, who was sitting at one of the tables on the main level, confirms that Anoleis is a corrupt administrator. As the administrator of one of the port's tenants, he did have a garage pass to offer you, but he needed access to evidence in his office in return. Shepherd considered his offer and ultimately agreed. They went down to Lorik's office, however it wasn't long before a fire fight started.

"Tell me again, why are we doing this?" Ash asked annoyed. As soon as they entered the Synthetic Insights office, they had to fight ERCS guards.

"Cause we need that garage pass" Shepherd said.

Liara looked at him. "You're a spectre, couldn't you just force your way through" she said.

Shepherd shook his head. "We could, but I rather not give the board a reason for a manhunt, besides I'm on thin ice with the council as it is" he said.

Ash looked at him. "Since when do you care what the council thinks?" she asked.

Shepherd shrugged. "Since I found out their bitching gives me headaches" he said. He then gave a smirk. "Ah hell, what's one more? Liara light 'em up"

Liara used her singularity field to lift the guards and Shepherd shut them down with a powerful warp. The ones left standing were ripped through by Ash's sniper rifle. "More up the stairs, Skipper" she said.

Shepherd threw his grenades up the stairs and caused the guards to fly. "Ash?" Shepherd asked.

"We're good" she said. "Sending rookies against trained soldiers, I think Noveria likes to waste credits"

Shepherd scoffed. "They don't care, as long as they protect their money, they won't care how guards they have to go through, fucking megacorps"

The team made their way upstairs to Qui'in's office. "Is that the data?" Liara asked.

Shepherd nodded and whistled. Ash came to take a look. "Damn that's a lot of money, Anoleis is going to hang for this." She said.

Shepherd smirked. "You mess with a nest of vipers, expect to get bitten" he said.

Liara tilted her head. "V…ipers?" she asked. Ash looked at her.

"A venomous snake back on Earth, one bite is enough to kill several adult humans" She said. Liara nodded now getting the metaphor.

Shepherd downloaded the data and the team walked out before being met with Sterling and more guards. "Shit, I here I thought this going to be easy" Ash said.

"It never is" Shepherd said.

"I don't think you're supposed to be in here, Shepherd" she said with venom.

Shepherd crossed his arms. "I could say the same thing about you" he said. "Funny how you just happen to be get here just as I walk out this office."

Sterling glared at him. "What are you trying to say?"

Shepherd smirked. "You're in on the whole thing, Anoleis bribed you to keep his money laundering a secret" he said. "Man, if the board finds out, you and your thugs are going to fry"

Sterling gave a murderous glare. "Since you know already, you think I'm going to let you walk out of here alive?" she said coldly.

Ash sighed. "Another idiot with an ego problem, like that never gets old" she said annoyed.

"I know, just bear it and humor her for a moment" he said. He faced Sterling. "So, you want to start or should we?"

Sterling gave a cold laugh. "You're an arrogant son of a bitch aren't you? Tell me do you know what we did to cop killers on my world?"

Ash rolled her eyes. "Oh my god, let's just kill the dirty bitch and get on with the mission" Shepherd and Liara nodded agreement and the battle ensued.


	38. Chapter 32c: Noveria pt3

**Chapter 32c: Noveria pt. 3**

The fight was quick and bloody. Sterling was on the floor bleeding with Shepherd standing over her. He crouched down with a smug smirk on his face; there was no pity for the dirty cop.

"So you might be thinking now, 'was the money worth it?' Shepherd said.

Sterling gave a murderous gaze. "You little shit..." she gasped. "What are you waiting for? If you're going to kill me, get it over with." She coughed up blood; Sterling wasn't going to make it after this.

Shepherd gave cruel smirk. "Nah, I wouldn't waste my time or my heat sinks on a little bitch like you"

Sterling eyes widen. Gone was the defiance and the misplace bravery in her eyes, only fear took its place. "Y-you just going to leave me here to bleed out" she said in fear.

"Yep, think of it as a nice way for you to reflect on your life, just before you lose it, See ya" he said. Ash couldn't help but shudder as he said those words. _'They don't call him the Butcher for nothing'_ she thought. "Let's go" Shepherd ordered.

Sterling cursed at the top of her lungs as Shepherd and team walked out. They made their way back to the hotel. Parasini was there.

"Ah I see you're back" Parasini said sipping her cup.

"I got your evidence, now the garage pass" Shepherd said.

Parasini wagged her finger. "Now you just need to get Qui'in to testify" she said.

Shepherd glared at the woman. "That wasn't part of the deal, I got you damn evidence, anything after that is on your ass." He said.

Parsini rolled her eyes. "As long as I have the pass, you can't go and do your little mission, now do as I say and get the turian to testify" she said. Ash palmed her face. _'This is not going to end well'_ she thought.

Shepherd's eye twitched and he lifted the woman with his biotics. "No you listen to me you conniving little bitch, I don't take orders from you or your little board, you keep this up and I will show you why a spectre is above the law, got it?" he said. Parasini nodded her head quickly. "Good" he said.

Shepherd dropped her hard on the floor and Parasini gave up the key. The team left the shaken woman. "Was that really necessary?" Liara asked.

"No, but it was fun" he said. Liara and Ash glared at him. Shepherd sighed. "Fine, if I ever see her again I'll buy her a fucking drink."

"Tali have her hands full" Ash said.

Liara nodded. "I agree"

Shepherd rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah" he grumbled. The team made it to the garage; it was quiet, too quiet. "Stay close, I have a bad feeling about this" he said. A mechanical sound caught everybody's attention.

"What is that...?" Ashley muttered. A further sound, all too familiar, answered the question: The distinctive cackling of geth platforms, Two Geth Destroyers, a Geth Ghost, a Geth Stalker, a Geth Rocket Trooper, and a Geth Shock Trooper will attacked. A destroyer charged at them. "Shit!" Ashley blurted out. Everybody drew their weapons.

"Liara, Stasis!" Shepherd ordered. The destroyer froze in its tracks. The team took cover, Ash Tried to blast the ghosts, but it was too fast, unknowing to her, a second destroyer charged at the gunnery chief. "Ash, behind you!" Ash looked back too late and was on the floor with a rifle staring at her. Shepherd overloaded the destroyer and pushes it back with a throw field, when he got to her they were surrounded by shock troopers.

"Sorry, skipper, I got careless…" Ash said.

"Happens to the best of us, don't worry about it" he said. "But I do wonder how are we getting out if this?" Ash looked around the room, and saw a whole bunch of canisters littered around the garage, this place was bonfire waiting to happen, which was perfect for getting rid of annoying geth.

"This place is full of flammable material, it would be a shame if it caught on fire, Skipper" Ash said with a smirk. Shepherd smirked back, the spectre called Liara to run interference of the geth, the asari glowed blue and trapped them all in a huge singularity field. The agile ghosts and stalkers tried to escape, but even they were trapped by field. Near by the swirling vortex had picked up several canisters.

"Buh-bye, bosh'tets" he said. Shepherd sabotaged the canisters and it caused a huge explostion, so huge in fact, that Alarms started to sound. Several guards came in to investigate, one of them had black hair, Matsuo.

"What the... What are these things?!" Matsuo asked in alarm. "Fan out and secure the area! No one gets in or out!"

"Shit! Time to go!" Shepherd shouted. "Head for the Mako!"

"What about the guards?" Liara asked.

"Let them play clean up, let's go" Ash said. The team ran for the Mako, but Matsuo had seen them, she had ordered them to stop, but they kept going. They then had to dodge hail of gunfire. "That bitch is actually shooting at us!"

"Well she did say no one leaves" Liara said. The team had to use the Mako as cover when the gunfire became too much, the Matsuo and her men were hot on their heels, they needed to end this chase and soon. Shepherd got out a grenade and set it on the lowest setting so he wouldn't hurt them and threw.

"Watch it, explosive!" As the explosion got ERCS guard attention, the team went into the Mako, and drove into the white wilderness. Once they left the Mako, gave a notification of a Level 1 Cold Hazard; limiting the teams exposure to the outside until they reached Peak 15. The ride was not to be uneventful, however as they approached the first tunnel; the geth have placed a turret here, which were reinforced with Shock Troopers, Rocket Troopers, and Troopers. In addition, the geth have deployed personal shields near their positions.

Shepherd groaned. "I should've known they wouldn't make it easy for us" Shepherd search for a safe place to attack, going in blindly was going to get them killed. Ash activated the main gun and entered sniper mode. The soldier was able to take out the two turrets, before it could lock on the tank.

"Geth incoming!" Liara said. Ash switched to the machine guns, and mowed down the geth. Some of the geth set down personal shields to the block the guns of the Mako, as they counter attacked. Suddenly the tank shook slightly by the rocket troopers, Ash switched back to the main gun and the geth went flying, some off into the ravine. The Mako went on ahead; about halfway down the tunnel are four Geth Rocket Troopers. They were all shooting their rockets at the same time so it makes their shots easy to dodge. Thanks to the crazy driving of Shepherd, the rocket troopers were run over before they could get in another shot.

When they were out of the tunnel, a Geth Armature was waiting for them, and it had also has some Rocket Trooper friends. This was a tough battle, when the rocket troopers weren't pounding them, the armature was.

"Shields at fifty-two percent, Shepherd we can't take much more" Liara said.

Shepherd nodded. "Ash, take out the Rocket Troopers then focus on the Armature " he said. Ash nodded and mowed down the rocket troopers with the machine guns. The Armature fired at the Mako, and the tank shook hard. "Status!"

"We lost twenty percent, were at thirty-two!" Liara said. Shepherd maneuvered around the Armature dodging siege pulse fire until the tank got behind it. Before the Armature could turn, Ash blasted it with the main gun, and pelted it with the machine guns, after a while the geth succumbed to the damage and fell. They moved on until they reached the next tunnel, which was defended by more geth which were wiped out quite easily.

Now nearing the Peak 15 research facility, the only enemies were three Geth Turrets. As the Mako made the first turn around the cover, was the first turret, if they were not careful the turret's missile would knock them off the cliff. Shepherd drove dodging the missiles with Ash fired on the turrets, the spectre was lucky Ash was such a good sharpshooter, because after the gunnery chief destroyed the first one, the second fired about halfway down the path from the first to the last turn. The mako jumped, dodging the missile, Ash fired the main cannon, the tank's missile enters the nozzle of the second and was destroyed from the inside. The mako was then hit on the side; alarms were buzzing and beeping loudly.

"Shields at twelve percent, one more and we're finished!" Liara said. "The third is above and to the left, on the mountain!" Ash targeted that position, and before the turret could fire once more, she pelted it was a barrage of machine gunfire, the turret exploded. The path to Peak 15 was cleared.

_**New Poll up on my profile, also Review and Comment.**_


	39. Chapter 32d: Noveria pt4

**Chapter 32d: Noveria pt.4**

_One of seventeen remote facilities on Noveria, Peak 15 is a large research station in the Skadi Mountains, accessible through the winding Aleutsk Valley. Port Hanshan normally runs shuttles there, but in inclement weather, a Mako or M29 Grizzly can be used. The labs there are now owned by Binary Helix, and according to many Noverians, the lab has a bad reputation._

_Peak 15 has a safety system called Code Omega which is activated if there is a critical containment failure. The facility shuts off power, hoping the cold will deactivate or kill any escaped experiments, and Mira (the VI that runs Peak 15) is purged from the system. Back at Port Hanshan, the executive board then votes whether or not to destroy the facility from orbit, with an antimatter warhead from one of the orbiting battle stations.-Codex_

'_Finally, I was getting sick of the cold'_ Shepherd thought. After a long trek across the Aleutsk Valley, they made it to Peak 15. The research facility was mess, from the burning Grizzly out in the front to the walls and floor full of bullet holes and burn marks, it looked like a war zone, and however there were no bodies that litter base. Which begged the question, what were they fighting? Shepherd and team looked around the corner of the entrance; the garage was full of krogan and geth.

"That's a lot of enemies, we're going to have to be careful" Ash said. Shepherd and Liara nodded in agreement.

"Then we strike first, Liara lift that cryo canister" Shepherd ordered. Liara lifted the canister near a geth juggernaut. Shepherd sabotaged the canister causing it to freeze the juggernaut and any allies near it. That caught the attention of the krogan and other geth.

"Krogan incoming" Ash said. Shepherd threw out two grenades, one to stun the Krogan and the other to thin the herd. Shepherd then sabotaged the krogan's gun to make him fall back, but all it did was make the krogan charge at them. "I think we pissed it off" she said.

"We got this, Liara throw on my mark, and now!" Shepherd said. Shepherd and Liara both launched throw fields at the krogan, causing him to crash on the crates. "Ash aim for the head" he ordered.

Ash switched to her sniper rifle and shot the krogan. "I think that's all of them" Liara said.

Shepherd wondered the labs looking for clues. Dim, reddish light fell from some few sources on the ceiling. Crates created shadows everywhere; an eerie atmosphere covered the labs, it felt like something or someone could jump out against them.

"Dammit! I can barely get anything from this terminals, before it shuts off" Ash said.

"The labs must be on emergency power" Liara realized.

Shepherd nodded. "Yeah, but why?"

"Could it be because of the storm?" Ash asked.

"I don't think so, even with the storm the labs should have plenty of backups in place" Liara said.

"Well we aren't going to find out here, come on" Shepherd said. As the team, made their way through peak 15, they were met with an unsettling sight.

"Why are the turrets facing inwards?" Liara asked.

"They want to keep their people in as much as they want to keep other people out," Ashley explained darkly.

"No wonder their labs are out here, no witnesses leave here alive and they can hide any evidence of wrongdoing" Shepherd said. "Goddamn megacorps. They're all the same." They took the elevator up and t went through the door.

Inside was a cafeteria area for the facility, the damage was worse than the team thought, the walls and windows were destroyed allowing, the planet's cold wind to blow into the building. Because of that almost all ofthe room was snowed in, burying broken metal beams, exposed electrical wiring, and the tables and chairs of the mess hall. Unfortunately, the team couldn't take in more of the environment as it had some guests, geth. There are some Geth Shock Troopers, Geth Troopers, and Geth Rocket Troopers. The team got to cover as the geth fired at them, Shepherd threw a grenade at the machines to thin the herd. Liara used her singularity field to send them flying.

As the battled continued, a loud thud came from nowhere and the fight was temporarily stopped as everyone was looking around for the source of the noise. The squad came closer together, at the bottom of a staircase, standing back to back, watching their surroundings nervously. A loud inhuman shriek could be heard, and several large, very familiar, insect creatures came in and attacked. Their first target was the geth, the team watched in awe as the machine desperately tried to fight them off. The battle was short and brutal, but the insect creatures were not done, they had their sights on the team.

"Fuck, Rachni…" Shepherd growled. They then came down the stairs with their giant tentacles primed and ready.

"What are they?!" Liara asked alarmed.

"Focus Liara, you can wonder after we stay alive" Shepherd said.

"Skipper, bugs incoming" Ash said. Rachni soldiers charged at them.

"Ash shotgun, Liara singularity" he ordered. Ash blasted the rachni back and Liara's singularity lifted up the soldiers. Shepherd threw grenades at the rachni, but they kept coming, with smaller rachni workers joining the fight.

"There's too many of them!" Liara said.

"Shit, fall back to the door behind us!" Shepherd said. The team made a run for the door; unfortunately the bugs were quite fast, and quite capable of firing acidic projectiles. Each time the team had to dodge, only let the rachni catch up more and more.

"They're catching up!" Ash said. Shepherd emptied his grenade pod and threw it back at the charging rachni. The multiple explosions stunned them, allowing the team to make it to the door and locked it. As they caught their breath, they could hear sound of something scurrying away, they were safe, for now.

"Rachni, I can't believe it, but they're supposed to be-"Liara said. Shepherd put his hands up.

"Dead, I know" Shepherd said. "We saw them on Binthu, while we were taking out Cerberus"

"But what are those bugs doing here?" Ashley asked.

"Wanna bet this is where Cerberus got their rachni from?" Shepherd asked.

"But for what reason?" Liara said.

"Super soldiers under their control, I'm guessing" Shepherd said. "After all, what's more super than pissed off rachni under your control?"

"And my mother came here? For what reason?" Liara asked.

"Another reason we need to find her." Shepherd said. Ash and Liara nodded. "We can take that elevator behind us"

The team went down the elevator only to meet soldiers with weapons drawn and aimed for them. At the same time the team was also in combat mode, Shepherd and Liara flared up their biotics and Ash had her Assault rifle primed and ready. Their opponents were human security guards, all in white armor. The tension was thick until someone spoke up. "Stop! Calm down! We want no conflict!"

The guard lowered their weapons as a dark-skinned bald man came up to meet the team. The team looked at each other and calmed down, while, watching the guards carefully. "Sorry," the man spoke up again, "We didn't mean to threaten you. We just didn't know who was on the elevator."

Ash raised her brow. "So you really thought giant space spiders could work an elevator? I think you give them too much credit" she said.

"Trust me, those giant space spiders are smarter than they look" the man said.

"Who are you?" Shepherd asked.

"Captain Ventralis, Binary Helix Corporate Security," the man answered. "My team's and I have ran on stims for days now. So we're a bit jumpy"

"I'm Wayne Shepherd, Council Spectre" Shepherd replied. "How long have been down here?"

"Over a week" Ventralis said "The aliens had broken out of the hot labs, and next thing we know they were clawing into my command post, lost a lot of good people to those things" Shepherd looked at Ventralis' team, they looked absolutely demoralized, the spectre had nothing but sympathy for them for having to face this nightmare that long. "An asari was here to deal with the problem, but we haven't heard anything"

Shepherd nodded. "Do you know how to get to the hot lab?"

Ventralis nodded. "Yes, speak to a salarian, named Palon, he's trying to restart Mira, the main VI" he said. He then gave the spectre a key card. "Just us this card and the tram should take you to the labs.

The team nodded and made their way to see Dr. Palon. As they were walking, they saw people look up and watch them, their eyes held the same demoralized look as Ventalis' men. They then see a red salarian working on a large terminal. "Doc?" Shepherd asked.

The salarian jumped. "Don't do that!" he said. Shepherd looked back at Liara and Ash, and the two women shrugged.

"I heard that you can get us to the hot labs." He said.

Palon blinked. "Ah yes, I am almost through, I just need to connect this and…" The lights came on and the machines came alive. A hologram of a human woman appeared.

"All systems restored" VI said. Shepherd took out the key card and the VI scanned it. They headed down into the maintenance area and took the tram in to the hot labs. They came out expecting a fight, but there was none. The trip to the hot labs was too easy, Shepherd didn't like this.

As they entered the hot labs, they heard a cold female voice. "You do not know the privilege of being a mother." Surprised, they swung around weapons ready and faced an older asari. The asari wore a dark blue gown that shows a modest amount of cleavage, and a head-dress of the same color. By the looks of her, you wouldn't be able to tell that she was several centuries old. She stood at a comfortable distance, up a small case of stairs on an raised platform; she looked down on them with cold eyes full of murderous intent.

Shepherd looked back at Liara, she looked downtrodden. "Mother…" she said sadly.


	40. Chapter 32e: Noveria pt5

**Chapter 32e: Noveria pt. 5**

_Given her status as a matriarch, Benezia must have lived for almost a millennium. She is renowned and revered as a teacher of religion and philosophy. During the 'matron' phase of her life, Benezia had a daughter named Liara T'Soni. Unusually, Benezia mated with another asari, considered a faux pas in their society. (After discovering their ability to mate with any species, asari consider producing offspring with their own kind as wasteful because "nothing is gained" from pure-blooded asari offspring.) Liara tells Commander Shepard that she doesn't know who Benezia chose as her partner; she and her mother never discussed Liara's second parent, and Liara believes Benezia may have been ashamed of her choices. She raised Liara alone - a common occurrence in asari society - and was amused when Liara chose to study Prothean archaeology, a minor rebellion against her forward-thinking mother._

_According to Liara, Benezia feels that the asari should have a greater role in shaping galactic events. She is Saren Arterius' executor and a fellow Binary Helix investor.-Codex_

"You do not know the privilege of being a mother." Surprised, they swung around weapons ready and faced an older asari. The asari wore a dark blue gown that shows a modest amount of cleavage, and a head-dress of the same color. By the looks of her, you wouldn't be able to tell that she was several centuries old. She stood at a comfortable distance, up a small case of stairs on a raised platform; she looked down on them with cold eyes full of murderous intent.

Shepherd looked back at Liara, she looked downtrodden. "Mother…" she said sadly

"There's power in creation, human," Liara's mother explained. "To shape a life. Turn it toward happiness or despair." She then gave cold look at the structure next her. "Her children were to be ours. Raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies" Her cold glare was turned to the team, the team was on their guard, the look she gave meant she serious, deadly serious.

"Give up, Benezia…come quietly and I'll show mercy, but if you force my hand…." Shepherd said seriously. "I'll put you down, and I rather not take down the mother of a friend" Benezia gave a chilling laugh; the team were slightly unsettled by it.

"Really? Is that why you brought my disappointment of a daughter, to sway me? You truly are naïve, human" Benezia said coldly. He gaze went to Liara, and the young asari felt very small in her gaze."Tell me Liara, what have you told them about me, hmm?"

Liara lowered her head. "What could I say Mother? That you're insane? Evil?!" Liara sadly. "I just want... to save you and Shiala wants to save you too" She shook her head "Please stop this, mother, please…."

"I won't" Benezia answered her daughter. She then glowed blue and looked at Shepherd. "Tell me human, have you ever face an asari commando before? Few have…"

Shepherd narrowed his eyes at the older asari. "Damn you…you'd kill your own daughter, for Saren?!"

Benezia gave a cold laugh. "Kill her?" she asked. "I would burn my world, if it means bringing Saren greatness!" The team was taken aback by her declaration, she was absolutely beyond reasoning, they would have to fight her.

"She's nuts…" Ash gasped. Shepherd looked back at Liara; she looked utterly defeated with tears down her cheeks.

"Sorry, Liara" Shepherd whispered. Shepherd glowed blue and launched a strong biotic force at the Matriarch, but Benezia waved away the field like it was nothing. Ash fired at the asari with her pistol, but the bullet just bounced off her, she was in a biotic barrier and going by the distortions in the air, it was incredibly powerful.

"Do not underestimate me, human" Benezia said coldly. She waved her hand again and a stasis field enveloped Shepherd, he was completely immobilized. Calmly and slowly, Benezia walked back some steps, to make way for several asari commandos appearing from behind her. "Kill them"

"Skipper!" Ash said. "Liara use singularity on the commandos"

Liara made the commandos fly along with the canisters in the air. Ash then aimed for the canisters and fired. The commandos flew back, dead from the force, Benezia glowed blue and another door open. Another batch of commandos came in, but Liara glowed a dark blue and before the commandos could react crushed them against the wall. Her powers flared more and in the end the commandos were nothing more than bloody smears on the wall. Liara breathed heavily and gazed at her mother.

"Whoa…" Ash said in awe.

"Impressive, daughter, I see you had improved on Shiala's lessons" Benezia said. "It is a shame my sister can no longer see the light, but maybe you can"

"Never!" Liara said.

Shepherd dropped hard in the corner of the room and the stasis field finally wore off, just in time to be almost hit by a biotic powered box. Shepherd dodged as the box was smashed against the wall, he looked around the room. It was chaos, as bullets, boxes, people and dark energy flew around the room. Shepherd got up and joined the battle, just in time to as Benezia had one of the doors to the room opened.

"Geth incoming" Ash said. . The two women dug in and supporting Shepherd, who had already begun working on his omni-tool. Soon, the geth's weapon blew up taking with them their allies. Only Benezia remained.

"It's over, give up, for your daughter" Shepherd said walking slowly. The Matriarch was folding down, sliding towards the ground and leaned against her desk. While she had great power, it also meant she got tired much easier.

"This is not over," she said. "Saren is unstoppable. My mind is filled with his light. Everything is clear." Benezia glowed a faint blue, but it faded as fast as it came, the matriarch was completely at her limit.

"This is your only choice, drag this on and I will kill you" Shepherd said.

The asari glared. "I will not betray him!" Benezia answered. Her hands rested on the table, supporting her whole body. "You will... you...ah..." Suddenly but slowly, Benezia rose again and turned around to face the team, Shepherd and Ash got ready for a fight, but Liara came between them and shook her head. She turned to face her mother.

"Mother?" Liara asked cautiously.

"You must listen," she said. "Saren still whispers in my mind. I can fight his compulsions briefly. But the indoctrination is too strong." Shepherd narrowed his eyes at the woman looking for a trick, but something felt different about the matriarch the spectre couldn't put his finger on it. One minute she's defiant but her attitude changes quickly, even her eye didn't carry the coldness from earlier, it was sad and maybe even afraid.

"You expect us to believe that?" Ash asked raising her weapon. Shepherd then came forward. "Skipper?"

"Why are you able to break free now?" he asked.

"I only managed to seal a part of my mind away from the indoctrination. Saving it for a moment when I could help destroy him. It will not last long." She said. Her voice felt strained, like she was fighting to keep her mind hers, but she kept talking the strain in her voice became more pronounced. He suddenly remembered with Shiala had said on Feros.

_**After the Thorian**_

_"How is that possible?!" Liara asked shocked. "Mother is one of the strongest people I know, how could Saren influenced her so much?"_

_"Saren has a warship, Sovereign" Shiala answered. "It is unlike anything I have seen before, it is enormous and incredibly powerful. And it has an insidious ability, the ability to dominate the minds of his followers. The process is slow at first, but in the end it is there is no hope."_

_"Mind control? You're shitting me!" Shepherd said in disbelief. Shiala nodded._

_"It is true" Shiala replied, "I've experienced it. The inside of the ship is like another world, you feel drawn to it and you begin to confuse its reality and your own. You begin doubting yourself, and then suddenly Saren's words start to make sense, and you follow his every order"_

_"And... mother fell victim to it?" Liara asked distressed._

_Shiala just nodded gravely and sadly. "I'm afraid so…she may not be so lucky like I was, she was the closest to Saren…" she said."I'm sorry little wing…" _

All of a sudden, Shiala's plea made so much more sense, she wanted Shepherd to bring Liara not to save Benezia, but to say goodbye. Shiala truly believed Benezia is beyond saving, Shepherd looked at Benezia as her body shook, she even had a look of pain on her face. She didn't look like anyone that was in control, indoctrination was real, no doubts about it. "So you could turn on me" Shepherd said sadly.

"Yes, people are not themselves when they are around Saren, you idolize him, worship him, you would do anything for him" she said shakily "The key is his ship, Sovereign…"

"Shiala said the same thing on Feros, and I remember seeing it on Eden Prime" Shepherd said. "Where did Saren get it?"

"I don't know, but I know this, the geth didn't build it as even they do not understand it" Benezia said. "It's almost like they worship it" She was silent for a while until she spoke up "when it returns, I will be lost, this time forever…kill me"

Shepherd and team looked at her blankly. "W-what?" Ash said.

"No!" Liara cried out. "There has to be a way to free you!"

"I'm sorry Little wing, but there is no freedom for me, not anymore" Benezia said quietly. Her head hung low. "You do not know the horror of seeing your hands maim and murder while your mind is trapped, screaming for you to stop" She then looked to Shepherd with tears in her eyes. "Please, before my mind is not my own, kill me, I would rather die as myself than be Saren's slave"

Shepherd nodded aiming his gun at Benezia. "NO!" Liara screamed as Ash held her back.

"It's alright, little wing, please, it is for the best" She turned her gaze back at Shepherd. "Before I die, I must repent…" Benezia tells them that Saren sent her here to recover the location of the Mu Relay from the Rachni Queen. The Mu Relay was lost four thousand years ago when it was pushed out of its orbit when a nearby star went supernova, but amazingly it wasn't damaged. The supernova's wake eventually swathed the Mu Relay in hot gas and dust, meaning the relay was impossible to detect as scanners can't pick up "cold" objects like the relays in interstellar space.

However, the queen knew due to their ability to pass down memories on the genetic level. So using her biotics, Benezia takes the coordinates for the Mu Relay from the rachni queen's mind, and as she put it sadly, she was not gentle.

"Do you have it? We need that data" Shepherd said.

"Of course, I was not myself, but…I should have been…stronger "She said. "I transcribed the data on a OSD. Please, take it." She handed it over.

"Will this be enough?" Ash asked.

"It will have to be, Saren didn't tell me his next plan, but you must find out quickly" Benezia said. "I transmitted the coordinates to Saren just before you arrived." Her body then shook violently, and held her head as she screamed in pain.

"Mother!" Liara said in distress

"Stay back, Liara! I can't... his teeth are at my ear. Fingers on my spine." She turned around, her walk unsteady. "You should... uh... you should..."

"Mother!" Liara cried out. "I... don't leave! Fight him!"

"You've always made me proud, Liara," Benezia said with tears in her face. "I love you, I'm sorry I've never told you enough…." Shepherd reluctantly raised his gun and fired. The bullet struck the asari in the heart and she fell with a great thud.

"Mother!" Liara cried out. She ran towards her, and knelled besides her. "No! You can't... you can't just leave me here. No..." The older asari weakly placed her hand on the young asari's face, wiping away her tears.

"Goodnight little wing, I will see you again at the dawn." Benezia said softly. She coughed up her violet blood, she wouldn't have long now. She gazed up at the spectre. "Shepherd, tell my sister, I'm sorry for everything…." Shepherd nodded and the Matriarch smiled as her hand fell from her daughter's face as her eyes finally closed. Liara embraced her mother and started crying.

Ash walked towards her. She laid a hand on her shoulder, and gently pulled her up. She fell into her arms, and Ash hugged her. Liara continued crying on the human's shoulders. "Shh, we're all here for you." Ash said softly. Shepherd went to the controls and saw the giant rachni queen.

"Usually when I see you creatures, I kill you without a second thought" he said. "But-"he looked back at the dead matriarch and her crying daughter. "There's been enough blood, enough sadness for today" He released the controls holding the queen and opened the door. The rachni looked back almost as if it was thanking him for his mercy. The queen ran into the Noverian wilderness.

"Are you sure that was the right move, skipper?" Ash asked softly.

Shepherd sighed. "I don't know I just want to put this place behind us" he said.

Later the team was back on the Normandy after the finishing the clean-up at Peak 15, back on the Normandy, Shepherd did his usual debriefing to the team, he didn't see Liara at the debriefing, but understood why. After the meeting was adjourned, Shepherd made a call to Feros.

"Shepherd, is she…?" Shiala asked.

"It's done" Shepherd said. Shiala looked down.

"I see…at least my sister is with the goddess now" Shiala said softly. "Tell me, what did Benezia say?"

"She said she was proud of Liara and that she was sorry for everything" he said sadly.

Tears ran down her face. "Thank you, Shepherd, you have no idea what this mean to me" Shiala said. "Please, take good care of my niece; she is the only family I have left"

"I will Shiala, all of the Normandy will, you have my word" Shepherd said. Shiala's image faded. He then saw Ash walking towards him. "How is she?" he asked.

"She's calmed down now, Tali, Kaiden, and Garrus are with her, and you should join them" Ash said.

"I will" he said walking to the elevator. He turned back. "Ash, about what happened between us…" Ash raised her hand.

"Water under the bridge, seeing what we saw today, makes it easy not to hold stupid grudges" She said. "I'm happy for you and Tali, I can truly say that now, go get her tiger"

Shepherd smiled. "Thanks, Ash"

Ash smiled back. "No problem, skipper"


	41. Chapter 33: R&R and Groupie

_**After the somewhat heavy chapter, last time, I feel it is time for a lighter chapter, so enjoy and remember comments and reviews are welcomed.**_

**Chapter 33: Rest, Relaxation and a Groupie**

Shepherd was in the comm room to brief the council on the mission on Noveria…of course the councilors couldn't go five minutes without complaining about Shepherd's so-called mistakes. From destroying prothean ruins on Therum, to causing 'trouble' on Noveria. Shepherd really started to wonder why he briefs the council at all… "You found rachni on Noveria?!" the asari councilor said. Now the spectre remembers, because they always find out in the end…

"Yes, you shouldn't be surprised; didn't you read my report on finding rachni on Binthu?" Shepherd asked. The councilors looked at each other and then looked at the human blankly. Shepherd sighed. "You didn't, did you? What's the point of writing reports, when you won't even read them?"

"This isn't about us, Shepherd, it is about the fact you let a queen escape" the turian councilor said. "Do you have any idea how many generations until they overrun the galaxy?"

"No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me" Shepherd said annoyed.

"This isn't a joke! Your actions could endanger us all!" the turian councilor said angrily.

"Yes, because it's all about you, isn't it?" Shepherd said reaching for the com button.

"Commander, don't cut us-"the asari said before her image faded out. Shepherd sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, dealing with council was starting to become a chore, one big headache inducing chore, if he had known that this was what being a spectre was like, he would have kept his mouth shut. _'Me and my big mouth'_ He then heard giggling in the com room, and chuckled a little.

"You can come out now, rookie" he said. Tali came in the room and hugged Shepherd.

"You know, cutting them off when they annoy you, aren't going make you friends with them" Tali said.

"Yeah I know, but it feels good when I do that" he joked. He then grew serious. "But for real though, we've been run ragged the last few months, and after Noveria, I think we're entitled to some R&R"

Tali tilted her head. "R...&R?" she asked.

Shepherd chuckled. "Rest and Relaxation, a short vacation of sorts"

"Oh, that would be nice, but with the mission…" Tali said. Shepherd sighed, the mission, he had to find out about Saren's next move and put an end to it. He shook his head, he could worry about that later, and Admiral Hackett, the Council, or Anderson could always contact him, if they found something.

"Yeah, I know, but it's only for three days tops, plus, I don't want a stress related mutiny on my hands." He said. Tali smiled.

"Well, you're my captain, so I'll follow anywhere" she said. Shepherd kissed her mouthpiece.

"Thanks, I'll make the announcement to the crew, plus I think we're overdue for a second date, anyway" he said. Tali bounced on her toes excitedly. Shepherd chuckled. Shepherd and Tali made their way to the CIC. The crew looked at them, it had been a shock to them when they found out Shepherd was dating a quarian, in fact they had made a bet on who was going to win the affections of their leader. Liara was in the running, even though she had eyes for Garrus, Ash was another contender, due to Shepherd and her being so alike, and the fact Ash was kept on despite being the granddaughter of General Williams. Even Kaiden was in the running, due to his history with the Commander, though it was more like wishful thinking of some of the gay members of the crew. The only one who had bet, on Tali was Engineering, Dr. Chakwas, Presley, and the alien members, so imagine their surprise, when some of them walked in to Shepherd making out with Tali, or at they thought it was making out.

"No pressure, sayang" Tali said jokingly. Shepherd rolled his eyes and opened the ship's com.

"All right, listen up, we'll be taking a three-day shore leave at the citadel, all those that want to take it are welcome to it" he said. The crew erupted into cheers in the CIC and over the com. "One more thing, stay out of trouble, you get arrested by C-sec and I'm leaving your ass in jail, but other than that get fucking wasted."

"Well, you sure know to rally the crew" Tali said.

Shepherd smirked. "Not the way Anderson would do it, but it's pretty damn close" he said.

The Normandy glided into dock at the Citadel for the start of the crew's shore leave. Shepherd's team was in the CIC, the door opened and the ground team walked to the elevator.

"So what are you guys going to do?" Tali asked. Kaiden and Ash smirked.

"We're going to the club, going man hunting" Kaiden said.

Shepherd raised his brow. "Uh-huh and why are Liara and Garrus going with you?" he asked. Ash whispered to Shepherd and Tali.

"We invited Liara to cheer her up, the girl needs something to take her mind off her mother" Ash said.

Tali smiled. "That nice of you, Ash, and Garrus?"

Kaiden smirked. "As soon as he heard that we were taking Liara man hunting, jumped aboard, probably to make sure no one hits on Liara" he said with a laugh.

Garrus blushed and crossed his arms. "It's not that, just making sure no gets attacked" he said sheepishly. "After all, the Citadel can be dangerous…"

Shepherd looked at him. "So that's why you're taking your weapons to a club on the presidium? The safe place on the Citadel…"

Garrus rubbed his neck. "I'm always ready?" he said weakly.

Liara smiled and kissed Garrus. "Thank you for thinking about me, but I doubt you'll need guns"

"Well…I...You...See" Garrus stuttered. Everyone laughed.

"What are you going to do?" Ash asked. Tali blushed.

"Going on our second date" Tali said with a smile.

"Nice, be good to her, Skipper" Ash joked. "Big sister has an eye on you"

"Yeah, yeah" Shepherd grumbled. Just as they were about to enter, they heard Wrex.

"Hold the elevator" he said.

"Where you are you going?" Ash asked. She then saw tickets in his hands. "What's that?"

Wrex cleared his throat. "I'm going to a play" The rest of the team looked at him blankly; they didn't expect a krogan having a taste for culture. "What?"

"You…are going to a play?" Garrus asked.

"What kind?" Liara asked.

"Elcor version of Hamlet" Wrex said. Kaiden's eyes lit up.

"Sweet, A classic, you have good taste Wrex" he said. The team looked at Kaiden. "I...Uh saw it before the mission to Eden Prime" he said sheepishly.

"Don't be ashamed Alenko, we cultured people have to stick together" Wrex said. Garrus and Shepherd stifled a laugh which earned an elbow from Liara and Tali . The elevator made it to the top and the team went their separate ways.

"So, what do you want to do, rookie?" Shepherd asked. Tali smiled.

"How about some we shopping? We could use some supplies" Tali said. Shepherd raised a brow.

"We're on vacation and you're thinking about work?" Shepherd asked. Tali gave him a look. "Fine, we'll go, but I'm getting something special." Tali were about to say something, but Shepherd put his finger on her mouthpiece. "And the pilgrimage gift doesn't count"

"Fine, I can see this important to you" Tali said. Shepherd and Tali went down to the wards. The wards were just busy and full of energy as always. And unlike the presidium, there was not as many people staring at them. The couple made their way to some of the stores, although Shepherd wasn't a shopping person, it was nice to just unwind and relax a little, it also didn't hurt he had eye candy on his arm too.

" How about this?" Tali said looking at some tech.

"That? That has to out of date, besides I heard that omni-tool was buggy as hell" Shepherd said.

Tali smiled. "You forget, I'm a Quarian, Wayne, we can make any old tech sing" she said proudly. Shepherd rolled his eyes.

"Well, forgive me for questioning your almighty tech knowledge" he said playfully. That earned him an elbow.

"Bosh'tet" she said.

Shepherd chuckled while rubbing his stomach "Anyway, I got you something" he said. He held up a necklace, with a silver-colored chain, on the chain was a light purple jewel in the shape of a diamond. Shepherd put it on around her neck, Tali touched the necklace, she had never received a gift before, it was a waste of resources on the fleet if it wasn't useful. She wrapped her arms around the human's neck and hugged him.

"Keelah, its beautiful, thank you Wayne." she said.

Shepherd smiled. "Anything for my girl" Just as they were having fun, a blond hair man, in dark navy clothes came up to them.

"Are you Commander Shepherd?" the man asked. The couple looked at him.

"Yeah, what do you want?" Shepherd asked. The guy's eye lit up.

"You are! I'm Conrad Verner, I'm so honored to meet you." The man said. "They said you killed a hundred geth on Eden Prime"

"And you believe that? Shepherd's good, but a hundred geth is a bit much, don't you think?" Tali said.

Verner smiled. "Of course, Shepherd's awesome" he said wrapping his arm around Shepherd.

"Yeah….I know I am, but how about some personal space, dude" Shepherd said breaking away Verner. Shepherd didn't know what to think about Verner, he was an idiot, yes, but there was something about him that crept the spectre off. Verner then looked at Shepherd with those star-struck eyes again.

"Oh sorry, I know you're busy, but do you have time for an autograph" Verner said excitedly. He raised his arm.

"Anything for a fan, I guess" Shepherd said.

"Thanks, my wife will be so impressed." He said. Shepherd raised a brow. _'You have a wife? I guess there really is someone for everyone in the galaxy' _He gave his autograph and Verner walked away, or rather skipped away like schoolgirl who just met her favorite pop star. Shepherd shook his head as Tali tried hard to stifle a giggle.

"Aw, you have a fan" Tali said with her head leaning into Shepherd's shoulder.

Shepherd rubbed his neck. "Yeah, but do they have to so damn creepy?" Tali giggled. Shepherd looked at her. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" he asked.

"Maybe a little" she said.

"Are you hungry?" Shepherd asked. Tali nodded. "Alright, let's get out of here" Little did they know they were about to be joined by a blonde haired stalker. The couple went up to the presidium to a levo/dextro restaurant, this time the people stared at the couple, Shepherd gave them a scary look and the patrons minded their business.

"Sorry, Wayne" Tali said looking down. Shepherd kissed her.

"Hey, no problem, I don't care about them, they can bite me for all I care" he said. Tali smiled.

"Quite the romantic, aren't you?" Tali joked. Shepherd chuckled.

"Anything for my girl" he said. As they sat down to eat, Shepherd noticed something at the seat behind them. Shepherd narrowed his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Tali asked. Shepherd looked at her.

"I may be going crazy, but I could have sworn we're being watched." Shepherd said.

"Maybe, you're seeing something?" Tali asked. Shepherd noticed the guy had blond hair.

"I don't think so" he said. Shepherd lifted the man in a lift field and walked towards the man. "Verner?"

The man gave a meek wave. "Hi" he said. Shepherd dropped him and Verner got up, now facing a very annoyed Shepherd and Tali.

"Have you been following us?" Tali asked. "And no lying"

Verner rubbed his neck. "Yeah" he said.

Shepherd crossed his arms. "Why?" he said annoyed.

"Well funny story, I called my wife to tell her I got you autograph and…" Verner started.

"She didn't believe you, so what do you want a picture?" Shepherd asked. Verner's eyes lit up.

"Can you?" he asked. _'Shit'_ he cursed. Shepherd sighed.

"If do this, will you leave me in peace? I don't know if you noticed, but I am on a date" he said.

"Yeah, yeah, scout's honor" Verner said.

"Do you have a camera?" Shepherd asked. Verner gets a camera out. "Of course…" Verner gave Tali the camera, as Verner came uncomfortably close to Shepherd. The spectre prayed that this would be quick. It took a while for Tali get a handle on the human camera, but with Verner coaching her through it, Tali was able to take the picture.

"Thanks, do you want a copy?" he asked.

"No I rather not remember this" he said. Verner waved goodbye and left the couple in peace to eat. The couple decided to go the club, again not knowing they were being followed….again. Once they made it to the club, and saw people dancing on the floor, Shepherd was starting to regret this.

"Why did you drag me here? You know can't dance worth shit" Shepherd said annoyed.

Tali smiled. "Think of it you getting some practice" she said.

Shepherd rolled his eyes. "Like I need more practice on flopping around like a beached whale on a hot day" he said grimly.

Tali tilted her head. "Whale?" she asked.

Shepherd palmed his face. "Never mind let's just dance" he said. The couple danced for a while until they saw Ash, Kaiden, Liara, and Garrus. The four was having a blast laughing at their Commander's rather poor dancing skills, much to Shepherd's annoyance.

"Hey guys" Tali said.

"Hey Tali, Skipper how's your date been?" Ash asked. Shepherd sighed.

"I would have been fine, if it wasn't for my stalker" he said annoyed.

Kaiden looked at him. "You have a stalker?" he asked.

"Unfortunately" Shepherd said. He then felt a tug from Tali. "What is it rookie?"

"I don't think brush with fame is over, that pribadi is back" she said. Shepherd looked at her.

"You're kidding?" he asked. Tali shook her head.

"No, in fact he's coming this way." She said. Shepherd palmed his face.

"Need some help?" Garrus asked.

"Please? I think I'm at the end of my rope with this guy." He said. Verner came over to the team, or rather danced over to them. And on that point he danced rather poorly, in fact Shepherd couldn't help notice, he danced almost like him.

"Hi Shepherd" Verner greeted.

"Hey, Verner" Shepherd said deadpan. "What you want this time?"

"Me? I would never-"Verner started.

"Don't even try it, dumbass" Ash said. "What do you want?"

"Well, I wonder if you could sign me up for the spectres" he said.

"You a spectre?" Kaiden said barely stifling a laugh. "What skill do you have?"

"Uh…" Verner said. Kaiden shook his head.

"I thought so" Kaiden said.

"Not going to happen" Shepherd said.

"But-" Verner said. Shepherd sighed.

"I didn't want to this…" Shepherd said taking out his gun.

"What are you…?" Verner asked. Shepherd aimed his gun at his foot and pulled the trigger. "Ahh!" Verner was on the floor holding his foot.

"See? You don't have what it takes, if I was shot in foot, I would still be able to fight, you can't" Shepherd said. "Understood?" Verner nodded. "Good now get out of here" Verner got up and limped out of the club.

"You sure that was good idea?" Tali asked.

"Probably not, but at this point I don't care" Shepherd said. He pulled Tali to the dance floor until they went back to the Normandy.

Later back on the Normandy after an interesting day Tali and Shepherd decided to rest in their room. Shepherd dropped to the bed, exhausted; between the dancing and the stalking antics of Verner he had enough of shore leave for a while. He looked over to Tali, he was more worried about Tali not having a good time because Verner's interruptions.

"Sorry, for the sucky date" Shepherd said. Tali smiled.

"Cheer up, it wasn't all bad" she said. Shepherd looked at her.

"Oh yeah, how?" he asked. Tali unlocked the seals on her helmet. "What are you…?"

"Remember when I said was working on a surprise, well this was part of it" she said as she took off her helmet. Shepherd stared at her with wide eyes, Tali was beautiful, she has mid-length black hair. Her skin was smooth with a light purple color with dark lines running along her eye-brows. Her eyes had no pupils, and faintly glowed in the darkness, if wasn't Tali, he would have thought it was kind of eerie, but that just added to her other-worldly beauty. It was incredible to see how similar her facial structure was to humans, a little slender than a human's face, but otherwise she could be mistaken as human. While examining her face, Shepherd didn't notice that he had been staring at Tali for a little over two minutes causing the quarian to blush.

"Um, do you like it…my face I mean? I've never shown anyone my face except my father and mother" Tali said nervously.

Shepherd smiled and all of a sudden grabbed her and kissed her deeply. Tali moaned as her lips and his met, after a moment, they stopped. "Won't you get sick?" Shepherd asked breathlessly.

Tali caught her breath. "Yes, but I took some precautions, so the reaction will be less" she said.

"Awesome" he said as he grabbed her again and kissed her. He then stopped. "Can you sleep without your helmet? I would love to wake up to see my sexy Quarian girlfriend's face"

Tali smiled. "I thought you'd never ask" They spent the night in each other arms. _'Today was so worth it'_ he thought with a smile.


	42. Chapter34:Black,White,& the Grey Between

**Chapter 34: Black, White, and the Grey Between**

_WARNING: Level 1 Heat Hazard_

_Though it is one of the oldest entries in the star charts, Nonuel has not yet been fully mapped. It is the largest body in the asteroid belt of the blue star Plutus, not only large enough to support a spherical shape, but also massive enough to keep up the noxious carbon and sulfur dioxides venting from its many volcanoes as an atmosphere._

_Nonuel is rabidly volcanic, and the source of its great heat is also the source of its inordinate mass. Nonuel is a "secondary source" of element zero, coalesced around a large chunk of eezo ejected by a supernova billions of years ago._

_Surface conditions are extremely hazardous. In addition to the thin crust and numerous magma flows, wide stretches of the landscape are coated with slippery ash and cinders ejected from the volcanoes.-Codex_

Shepherd parked the Mako outside of the base and the team got out. The planet they were one was hot, deathly hot, they had get into the base soon or be fried. However, they weren't exactly excited about what was to come. "I hate this…" Ash said. "Do we have to do this, Skipper?"

Shepherd sighed. "I hate it too, but we have our orders"

"I know that…but cutting a deal with a criminal, I can't believe Alliance would even negotiate with a person like Darius…" Kaiden said.

_**Hours ago**_

_Shepherd came into the comm room, Hackett said he had an important assignment for the spectre, little did he know, Hackett was about to ask something of Shepherd that was going to be difficult. Shepherd got the terminal and pressed the button._

"_I have a difficult assignment, Commander. Alliance command believes you can get it done" Hackett said. "There's a criminal leader named Darius in the Skyllian Verge who controls most of the raider activity, Alliance Command, would like you to negotiate a cease-fire with him" Shepherd blinked when he heard that, the Alliance was negotiating with a known criminal, but for what reason? More importantly, why send him? He hated criminals, because it was criminals that took his family away from him. For high command to ask this of him was a slap in the face._

_Shepherd frowned. "Why me? I'm more likely to shoot him than talk to him"_

_Hackett sighed. "Exactly, Darius is a warrior. He won't take a negotiator seriously" he said. "They're hoping your reputation on Torfan will carry some…weight" Shepherd clenched his fist, for the longest time he saw Torfan as a badge of shame, for his superiors to use it as a deal maker for a criminal didn't sit well to him._

"_This is a mistake admiral, why the hell would the alliance talk to scum like him?" Shepherd asked trying to contain his anger._

"_The Alliance and Darius have a truce of sorts….we ignore his activities, he sells high-grade weapons to our colonies in the Traverse, and he promises to never attack our colonies" Hackett said._

"_So he bribes you…"_

"_Call whatever you want, Commander, but this deal has helped saved lives" the admiral said. "Without it…we would have had more incidents like Mindoir"_

_Shepherd frowned. "That's a low blow and you know it, Admiral" he said angrily._

"_I'm sorry if I was blunt, but it is the truth, Commander" Hackett said. "Sometimes to save lives you have to make unsavory deals…get it done Commander, Hackett out"_

Shepherd and team went inside the base, as the team walked they were being watched by his Darius' goons, they didn't trust them as much as the team didn't trust them. They went to the center of the base where Darius was waiting for them on the second floor looking down at him like he was superior to them. Darius for all his dossier claim was an unimpressive sight, his skin was the same dark shade as Shepherd, in a white and grey heavy armor, to make him seem bigger than he was. Shepherd looked around and saw his men, mostly human and turian, with a hand full of Krogan to add to the intimidation factor. Shepherd scoffed. _'Someone's compensating for something' _he thought.

Darius scoffed. "I'd hoped the Alliance would take this meeting seriously" he said with contempt. "Instead they send a grunt to show me how tough they are"

"You shouldn't underestimate a spectre in your presence, Darius" Shepherd said coldly. Darius' men looked at each other, but the warlord himself gave a big laugh, which in turn made his men laugh.

"That's a good joke, Shepherd, why would the Council make you a spectre?" Darius asked. "When your only claim to fame, is getting your whole squad killed on Torfan"

"Because if I wanted to I could wipe out you and your fuckers like I did those blinks on Torfan" Shepherd said coldly. Darrius stopped laughing and gave a murderous glare at the spectre and Shepherd gave one back. "Besides this isn't about me, so what do you want, Darius?"

"Actually, given my rank, I'd prefer that you call me Lord Darius or your lordship, if my name is too difficult for you" Darius said smugly.

"I'd sooner French kiss a vorcha…" Shepherd said. That little remark made some of Darius' men start chuckling a little, however Darius was not amused and gave his men a cold glare which shut them up quickly. _'At least he keeps a short leash around his men, that's something…" _Shepherd thought. Darius glared at Shepherd, the spectre could tell his patience is wearing thin.

"You can't speak to me that way! You and your Alliance owe me, Shepherd" Darius said angrily. He pulled out his gun. "You see this? This is your gun! Your military set me up here! Now it wants me to pretend it doesn't know me!"

"But I know the truth! The Alliance needed me! So you will treat me with the respect I deserve!" he said. "Without me, the rest of your colonies would be a pathetic little hovel like that Mindoir place" Shepherd glared at Darius, and his biotics was about to flare until Kaiden grabbed his hand and shook his head.

"I…apologize…now back to business…." Shepherd said through gritted teeth.

Darius smirked smugly. "Smart" he said. "Now, I assume you were going to apologize on behalf of the Alliance for trespassing and theft, Alliance miners were illegally extracting element zero from my territory, punitive attacks were the only course, I demand apology from the Alliance" The team looked at each other with surprise, they didn't hear anything about Darius attacking Alliance officials. The pieces were all staring to come together. Shepherd smirked, it looks like he wouldn't have to swallow his pride after all.

"Darius, thank you for telling me this…cause now it makes it so much easier to wipe you out" Shepherd said.

"You think you can take me down! I've killed worse!" Darius said. "You can't talk to me this way; the Alliance will respect me when I sent your bloody corpse!" Shepherd and Kaiden put the krogans in a stasis field, while Ash destroyed the power junction dazing the snipers up top. The team then went to cover as Darius' men came in guns ablaze, Shepherd used his singularity field to lift the turians and humans up and both he and Kaiden ended them with a warp field. The krogans were freed from the stasis field, Ash enter her sniper rifle into marksman mode, and aimed for the plates killing one and then the other krogan. Just as the team was finishing up with Darius' men, Darius shot a carnage blast at the power junction releasing toxic gas.

"Activate your breather helmets!" Shepherd ordered. The team pressed their omni-tools and their breather masks came on protecting them from the toxic gas. Darius continued to fire at the team wildly, angry at Shepherd crushing his so-called kingdom. Kaiden sabotaged his gun, causing it to backfire and explode knocking back the Warlord hard that he slammed the wall. Darius growled at Shepherd as he charged at him, losing all reason. Shepherd calmly raised his gun and pulled the trigger, and Darius fell with a thud, the Lord was dead. "Let's get out of here"

Back on the Normandy, Shepherd gave his report to Hackett. "I'm sorry that you were unable to negotiate with Darius peacefully. His death is regrettable"

Shepherd crossed his arms. "With all due respect, sir, but don't give me that bullshit, I already know about the miners" he said. "You didn't expect me to negotiate with him, which was why you left out the intel about the miners, I'm guessing you didn't agree with Alliance Command's decision to appease Darius"

"How sharp of you…Shepherd, you're right" Hackett said. "I kept on telling the Command for years, that Darius would go too far one of these days, but our higher-ups didn't believe that, they believed as long as they kept up with their end of the truce, so would he"

"But the problem was, Darius got greedy so the rules didn't matter" Shepherd said. "Risky move, Admiral if Command found out about this, you would've been out of a job, you know how those vultures work"

"Maybe, but sometimes extreme measure have to be taken to ensure humanity's safety" Hackett said. "Or did you think you were the only one willing to break the rules to get the job done?"

Shepherd chuckled. "No sir"

"Good job out there, Shepherd, Hackett out"

_**Review and Comment**_


	43. Chapter 35: Frenzy of the Rachni pt1

**Chapter 35: Frenzy of the Rachni pt1**

Shepherd was on the crew deck arm wrestling Wrex, with no leads on Saren, things had boring to say the least. So to kill his boredom, he had gotten the random idea of arm wrestling Wrex, in which the amused krogan agreed to. The krogan was strong, so the spectre had use his biotics to compensate, and still it wasn't enough, but Shepherd kept trying much to the amusement of the old krogan.

Wrex laughed. "Still not going to give up are you? You've got a quad that's for sure" he said amused.

"Keep laughing, old man, I may surprise you" Shepherd said struggling to get the krogan's hand down. "Son of a…" Wrex yawned and slammed the human's hand on the table, causing Shepherd to fall to the floor, the krogan laughed as he got off the floor. Shepherd comm opened. "What is it, Joker?"

"We got an SOS, Commander"

"Got it Joker" Shepherd said. "I'll get you next time, just you wait"

"Ha! That'll be the day" Wrex said. The krogan went back to the lower deck and Shepherd went to the CIC.

"Joker patch it through" The comm opened to the sound of gunfire and screams, whoever was contacting him was in huge a huge fight from the sound of it.

"Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. This is Lieutenant Marie Durand, 314th Infantry. Alliance 10th Frontier Division" the woman said. "The listening post has been overrun by unknown hostile life-forms, Request immediate extraction" More sounds could be heard, footsteps, it looks like they were running from whatever was attacking their team. Then he heard a very familiar sound, inhuman screeching, Rachni…

"Oh shit…." Shepherd said. He remembered his release of the Rachni Queen; but the queen was on Noveria, so it couldn't be from the same queen he released. Something was very fishy about this, they had one course. "Joker, get us to the coordinates, now!"

"On it, Commander"

_Nepmos is a resource-rich terrestrial world somewhat larger than Earth, with a dense atmosphere of sulfur dioxide and argon. Nepmos' crust is very thin and unstable, not more than 8 kilometers deep in any location. Subsurface magma flows are a hazard to ground travel, and earthquakes are frequent. While heavy metals and radioactives are plentiful, this geological instability has deterred investment by mining concerns._

_An added complication is that the Styx Cluster lies uncomfortably close to the "Five Kiloparsec Ring" around the galactic core. The Ring has a great deal of molecular hydrogen, fueling the majority of the galaxy's star formation. This area is too dangerous to safely travel.-Codex_

The Mako landed on Nepmos and made their way to the listening post. "I can't believe it, more rachni…could it be from the…" Liara said.

"I don't think so…or at least I don't know…" Shepherd said worried.

"It was a mistake to release the queen, they're crafty bastards, and breed like crazy" Wrex said. "What the hell were you thinking releasing a queen into the wild?!" Shepherd lowered his head, his moment of mercy may have come back to bite the galaxy in the ass, he shook his head, there was still much he didn't know he would save the self-pity for when he got all the information.

"I have no excuse, Wrex, but hopefully we can fix this…" Shepherd said.

"For all of our sakes, you better hope we can…" Wrex said sharply. They approached a camp in the middle of some nasty fighting with the Rachni, the workers, and soldiers were coming in droves. The Alliance soldiers were holding their own, but it was obvious that they were battered hard from the insects. Wrex activated the cannons and blasted the rachni soldiers with the Mako's main gun.

"We have their attention, Shepherd…" Liara said nervously. The rachni pursued the mako, spiting acid at the tank, Shepherd tried to dodge the spits. The shields couldn't hold back the acid because it wasn't kinetic energy, which meant the mako was taking direct damage. Wrex used the guns to repel the workers and soldiers coming near the team. With the final shot from the Mako's cannon the last rachni fell, no more came for now. The team got out of the tank and walked over to the person in charge, was a woman in dark greyish-blue armor.

The woman in charge gave Shepherd a sharp salute. "First Lieutenant Durand, sir!" she said. "Third Brigade, 14th infantry regiment, and damned glad to see you"

"At ease, we're just glad to help" Shepherd said. "Status"

Durand sighed. "Bad, those things really got us bad" she said. "We were dropped here for a scouting mission, for some pirate activity in this cluster, a few months back, they dropped supplies every couple of weeks. For a time, we didn't see anything more dangerous than lichen"

"Then yesterday, these animals showed up out of nowhere, only we fifteen are left out of the ninety men that were here at first"

"We have the Normandy, we could bombard them from orbit" Liara said.

Durand shook her head. "No good, they're too deep underground" she said. "Plus when they surface, they're near our position, you bombard them, and you take us out too."

"They're not animals; they're a sentient species called the rachni" Shepherd said.

"Never heard of them, then again I'm not sure I care" Durand said. "What we saw was a probe, our seismic sensors are picking a crap ton more on their way up, we've got five minutes tops" She then sighed. "We might be able to hold them off if we were at peak, but that's not possible"

Shepherd looked around the camp, she was right, this place was a mess. Only a few bunkers that were still intact, the rest was either bashed up or melted by the rachni's acid. Next he saw two rocket turrets that could help, if it had some power. The mako could power it, but that would mean his team couldn't use the tank, but it was a risk he'd have to take. "Do what you can to secure your position; we'll get your defenses up and running"

Durand gave a sharp salute. "Sir!" Shepherd went into the Mako and plugged the tank into the turrets, just in time too, as they heard a screech of the rachni. "Here they come! Stand your ground!" The first batch of rachni came out of the nests only to be blasted by one of the turrets. Shepherd and Liara both used singularity field to pick up the rachni and Wrex shot them down with a warp field. Durand and her men shot the soldiers as they came close to the encampment, so far the rachni couldn't even get close to the battle-scarred encampment.

Then it was quiet, but everyone was on edge, the rachni had stopped coming, but why? Then they heard a scream from the west, the squad went to the source of the scream, it was one of Durand's men, impaled by the rachni's tendrils. More rachni came out of the nest, they were flanking them and the turrets couldn't swerve over to support them. Shepherd threw some grenades at the approaching hoard; Liara used her singularity field to lift more of the rachni and took them down with a warp field. Wrex rammed the rachni, one of them tried to impale, but the krogan grabbed the tendril and swung it against another rachni, he then blasted them with carnage blast. The comm opened.

"Lieutenant Durand, they're flanking us from the right" one of her men said. They then heard more screeching coming their way. They were surrounded by the insects, but they fought on, however they would eventually become very tired while the rachni kept coming. Shepherd and Liara used they're throw fields to push back the rachni back, but dropped down on the knees, they had never as tired as they were now. Even Wrex was slowing down, something needed to change quickly or else they were done. More rockets blasted the rachni, but not from the rocket turrets, but from the Normandy shuttle. The tide was turning, as the rachni were being devastated, the insects knowing they were losing, they retreated, for now…

"Wayne, you okay?" Kaiden asked. The two men gave each other hi-fives.

"You're a sight for sore eyes, man" Shepherd said tiredly. Ash, Tali, and Garrus joined the two men; the quarian ran up and hugged Shepherd tightly. Apparently the rest of the team were worried about them and came down to help, help they were thankful for having. "I'm okay, rookie, just tired" The celebrations were cut short when Durand ran up to the team, looking very nervous. "What is it Lieutenant?"

"We got movement down underground, and its huge, if we don't do something we'll have a big fight on our hands"

"They can't be coming from nowhere; do you know where their nest is?" Kaiden asked.

"UAV said a hollow space five hundred meters under the surface" Durand said. "I would go, but my people aren't in any condition for a clearing operation"

"We can go and handle it for you, can you rig some explosives?" Shepherd asked.

"We'll see what we can do, Commander"


	44. Chapter 36: Frenzy of the Rachni pt2

**Chapter 36: Frenzy of the Rachni pt2**

Two men were carrying a huge silver cylinder to the mako, it was explosives that Lieutenant Durand created from resources that hadn't been wrecked by the rachni's assault. When the men got close to the one of them almost tripped and dropped the explosive, before they had recovered quickly.

"You idiots, be careful! You almost blew us up!" Durand said.

"Yes ma'am!" one of them said. They made it inside the mako and safely lowed the device on the floor of the tank and secured it tightly in place. The two men then took their places in the back seats of the mako, ready for the trip. Durand went over to Shepherd's team, and gave the commander a sharp salute.

"Explosive secured, Commander, Washington, and Lafayette are on standby to support you" Shepherd nodded and faced his team, who all stood at attention ready for action.

"What's the game plan Wayne?" Kaiden asked.

"We go and destroy the rachni's base, it should be lightly guarded when the bugs come out here" Shepherd said. "The team remaining will stay here and support Durand's team, with the shuttle here the rocket turrets should still work" Shepherd chose Tali, for when there was tech problems with the explosive and Ash for extra fire power. The second team would be led by Kaiden, and consist of Liara, Garrus, and Wrex, giving Durand's team some biotic and sniper support. When the plan was set, Shepherd and team went to the mako, and drove to the location of the UAV's read out. The readout pointed to an old abandoned mine, perfect place for the rachni to have a base, large enough for rachni to create their nests and strong enough to protect the nest. However it wasn't as easy as they thought as the mine was defended heavily by rachni soldiers, the soldiers greeted the mako with spits of acids. The mako dodged the acid, while making sure the explosives they had on board didn't explode prematurely. Ash mowed the soldiers down with machine guns, and the main gun.

After a while the opening was cleared, while Washington and Lafayette got out the bomb, the team looked for any more rachni. They went inside, with the team taking point guarding Durand's men. The inside of the mine was wet and dark, full of abandoned tools and boxes. The comm beeped. Sounds of battle could be heard, along with screeches of the rachni.

"Wayne, we've made contact with the rachni, what's you status?" Kaiden asked.

"We're inside the nest, do all you can to keep the main force distracted, while we set up the bomb" Shepherd said.

"Okay, but hurry the rachni came out in force" The comm closed. They headed down the entrance tunnel to reach the first room. When they reach the first room, there were some holes on the far wall, mostly likely tunnels the rachni created to enter the base in the first place. The team stayed on guard, although they had yet to meet the insects, it didn't mean they could relax. They were on their home turf, and unlike them could fight in crowded areas with no problem. They entered the next room, and found more rachni holes, eight to be exact around the main room. Washington and Lafayette set the bomb down in the center of the main chamber, when the element zero based explosions goes off it'll hit all of the nest at the same time, wiping out the colony. As the two men was about prepare it, they heard loud screeches that echoed the nests, they were coming.

"Can you two fight?" Shepherd asked. Washington and Lafayette nodded; they brought out their weapons as the screeches got louder. The team went back to back, watching each tunnel, until the sound came from their right, the tunnels. The rachni came out in force each from different tunnel, Shepherd raised them up with a lift field while Durand's soldiers fired at the insects. Ashley and Tali knocked back the soldiers with a double carnage to push them back. More rachni soldiers came out and threatened to overwhelm the team, Shepherd threw some grenades into the tunnels to wipe out the approaching insects. One of them spit out acid.

"Keelah!" Tali yelled in surprise. Shepherd blasted the rachni with a warp field and attended as he pulled her to cover. Shepherd analyzed his girlfriend's suit; the acid grazed her arm and was eating to her skin. Shepherd grabbed some water from the floor and washed the acid off.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I just didn't expect its spit to go through my shields" Tali said. "My suit is sealing itself off, I should be fine" Shepherd nodded and joined back the fight, just in time as a bigger rachni decide to join the fray and its first act was to blow back Washington, Lafayette, and Ash back with biotics. Wrex had told him about that rachni, they were the much dangerous Rachni Brood Warriors. They are the 'elder males' of the hive that usually mate with the queen. According to historical information, it is said that they only attack when the hive is particularly strained for warriors, which didn't seem strained at the moment. Shepherd's com opened.

"Wayne, whatever you going to do, do it and hurry!" Kaiden said. "The rachni had all of a sudden retreated back to their nest, they're on to you!"

"Shit, just what we need…" Shepherd glowed blue and used his singularity field, raising it up, but that didn't stop the brood warrior from firing warp fields at the team like crazy. The team went to cover; this battle was taking too long. Tali recovered and help Shepherd out with firing on the brood warrior, they were a lot tougher than the soldiers, but went Ash and Durand's men recovered they joined in the fire fight. The brood warrior fell with a screech, which announced the colony of Shepherd and team's existence. "Activate the explosive, so we can get out of here" Washington and Tali nodded and worked on arming the device, as the screeches were getting louder.

"Wayne, it's done!" Tali said. Shepherd nodded and ordered everyone to leave; the team ran out of the nest, fighting the soldiers along the way. Until they reached the entrance, before they could get out, they heard a scream. Shepherd looked back and saw a soldier tendril wrap around Tali's legs slowly pulling her to the swarm. Tali tried to grab her shotgun, but was too far from it. "Wayne, help!" Shepherd glowed blue and send out throw fields against the rachni soldiers, but it would shake the insect loose.

"Skipper!" Ash threw her assault rifle to Shepherd; the specte caught it and aimed for the soldier.

"Rookie, duck!" Tali hit the floor as Shepherd sprayed the rachni full of bullets, careful not to accidentally hit the quarian. The rachni soldier fell down with a screech and Shepherd went to help Tali, they needed to get out quickly the timer was almost to zero. The team reached the outside and head for the mako, just as an explosion sounded off destroying the nest along with the rachni. The mission was a success, but Shepherd didn't feel right, something about the rachni didn't sit well with him. The mako went back to the camp site, to find the Lieutenant and the Normandy team waiting on them, looking exhausted.

"Everyone okay, casualties?" Shepherd asked.

Durand sighed. "A couple…but holy hell, sir" she said. "I didn't think we were going to get through, talk about a near run" She shook her head. "Are you okay, sir?"

"Yeah, no casualties on my part"

"At least, we made it, Commander, could you do us a favor?" she said. "Three days ago, one of our listening post went offline, we were going to investigate, but the bugs had other plans" Shepherd looked at her, a listening post goes offline three days ago and Durand's team is attack just before checking on it. This reeked of foul play. "I don't know if it was pirate raid, but if you could check on them"

"We'll check on them, this may shed some light on our rachni problem" Shepherd said. "If you want, we can take you off planet and to the Citadel"

Durand shook her head. "No thank you commander, you've done enough for us" she said. "We have an intact beacon, so we should be able to get a ship to help us, you saved our asses, thank you" Shepherd nodded and the team went back to the Normandy. Shepherd had Pressly run the coordinates on the galaxy map to reveal the location of the listening post.

"Huh, it looks like it's in the next system" Pressly said.

Shepherd frowned. "The listening post shutting down and rachni appearing within days of each other, plus the system is right next to each other…" he said. "Foul play indeed…Joker get us to this sector, I think our rachni plot just thickened"


	45. Chapter 37: Frenzy of the Rachni pt3

**Chapter 37: Frenzy of the Rachni pt3**

_Altahe is an exceptional form of planet called a Roche World. Put simply, it is one half of a pair of small and unusually dense terrestrial worlds (Altahe and Ontahe) that orbit each other so closely; they effectively share a single atmosphere. That does not mean one could fly from one to the other, but both have identical atmospheres and dust from one often can be found on the other._

_Both worlds share an atmosphere of nitrogen and ethane. The surface is warm, and mainly composed of silica dust and dark basaltic rocks, with extensive deposits of heavy metals and radioactives. Tidal effects from Ontahe create constant heavy wind.-Codex_

After landing on Altahe, the mako heads to the coordinates to the south given by Durand. When they got to the coordinates, they found an Alliance base surrounded by four rachni nests and rachni soldiers patrolling the base. "That's a lot of them" Garrus said.

"What's the plan, Wayne?" Kaiden asked.

"We play it safe, Garrus you're up" The turian activated the main gun and entered sniper mode, as Shepherd drove the mako to a safe vantage point. Garrus zoomed in on the first soldier, and fired the cannon. The blast had gotten their attention, and went to attack the team, Garrus mowed them down with the machine gun and took down the approaching soldiers with the main gun. The path was clear for them to enter; Shepherd drove up to the base and parked the mako. The team got out and went in the base.

When the squad enters the underground base, they are met with a dead soldier. It looked like Durand was right to worry about other scout team. Kaiden went to check the corpse, when he turned the body over, his face twisted into a frown. "Died from acid burns, you can hardly tell who this guy is anymore" he shook his head. "Horrible, no one should die like this"

"We can't help him now, let just purge the base of the rachni" The team went to the first room, only to be stopped by a defense barrier, mostly set up by the soldier, before he died. Kaiden went to a terminal and lowered the barrier so they could come in farther. The main room held seven Rachni Workers and two Rachni Soldiers. The workers weren't too dangerous, however the team had to be careful as they were basically walking poison grenades. The workers crawled up to the team, but one shot killed them instantly. The two rachni soldiers charged at them, but they were out-numbered which made them easier to kill. After the rachni was killed, the team search for clues, Kaiden checked the terminal.

"Wayne, I found something" Shepherd and Garrus met up with Kaiden.

"What's up?" Shepherd asked.

"The listening post received a supply run two days ago" Kaiden said.

Shepherd frowned. "One day before communications were cut off, Kaiden, what of this supply ship?" Shepherd said. "Do we know anything about it?"

Kaiden checked more of the data. "Seems these things are drones, dispatched at irregular intervals from despots. Likely to reduce tracking" Kaiden typed into the terminal. "Got it, Argos Rho, that's where the ship came from"

Shepherd nodded. "Let's end this" Kaiden downloaded the data and the team left the base. The Normandy travels to the Gorgon system in the Argos Rho cluster and the team boards an unidentified space facility. The entryway was cleared of enemies, or of anything for that matter and went on, the team treaded carefully with such narrow space, it was going to be hard to fight. As they made it to the main hold, they could hear the screeches of rachni, but they didn't know where they were going to come out. The team turned the corner and alerted a rachni worker, the worker scuttled towards the team and Garrus shot at it. The gunshots alerted the rest of the nest and attack, but because of the boxes the team couldn't get a clear shot. A worker approached behind them and exploded releasing some toxic residue.

"Good then Tali uploaded that toxic mod to our armor, or else that would have been nasty" Kaiden said.

"Remind me, to take that girl out for dinner" Shepherd said. A soldier came around a corner, and wrapped Shepherd in its tendrils. "Shit!" Shepherd tried to get out of it, but the tendrils were stronger than the spectre thought. As he struggled, the soldier was preparing its other tendril to strike at Shepherd, but then a gun shot was sounded and the rachni dropped dead. Kaiden went over to Shepherd and helped him out of the embraced of the dead rachni. "Thanks"

"No problem, Wayne" The squad went to the front of the ship and saw a terminal, Kaiden went to find information while Shepherd and Garrus were on the lookout. When it was all clear, Kaiden called Shepherd and Garrus over, the data logs of a Major Elena Flore and it was quite illuminating. The first log entry describes that the station was operational. The log says that they were adding the barracks and stocking munitions. Flores says that they will have room for two reinforced platoons of Cerberus Commandos. The second entry described a package arriving and how those were supposed to be different. Something about developing in proximity to the master control unit. Flores documents a plan to 'test' the rachni by unleashing them on some local pirates. The third entry describes that the rachni have escaped, accessing the freighters and setting them to random destinations. It goes on to tell how the Cerberus personnel "treated them like animals. And how they should have treated them like POWs." Flores tells someone called the General, to "screw the rachni" and destroy the station.

Shepherd frowned. "Cerberus…shit…"

"Are humans always this…suicidal?" Garrus asked.

Kaiden shook his head. "Just Cerberus, it seems" Kaiden downloaded the data to his omni-tool, the team hoped that with the data in Alliance hands, that maybe they'll get serious with Cerberus. Next to the terminal was a detonation device that Flores' people were going to use against rachni, before the insects wiped them out. Kaiden set the device and the timer started, the team ran back to the ship quickly. As they were making their way to the entrance, they were blocked by rachni.

"Shit, we don't need this!" The rachni attacked and the team fought them off. Shepherd lifted them up with a singularity field and Kaiden pushed them back with a throw field. Garrus gunned them down with his assault rifle. More and more rachni came out, and attacked the squad, Kaiden sabotaged a canister near the rachni and froze them in their tracks and Garrus shattered them. "Kaiden time!"

"Fifty seconds left" Shepherd nodded and froze the rachni with stasis fields. The team made it to the entrance Kaiden closed the door behind them and locked the door. As the team was leaving, the rachni soldier slammed the door again and again until it was slammed open.

"Shit! Go, go!" Shepherd ordered as the team made on the Normandy. Shepherd ran to the cockpit. "Joker, get us the hell out of here!" Joker worked his fingers and the engines came alive, and the Normandy raced away just as the rachni infected ship blew up. Shepherd breathed a sigh of relief.

"Cutting it kind of close don't you think?" Joker asked.

"Heh, sorry" Shepherd said. As he went to go back and make his report to Hackett, a beep came from his omni-tool. "A message?" The spectre opened his comm, and a man spoke up.

"Greetings Commander Shepherd, I represent a party interested in obtaining information on Cerberus activates"

Shepherd frowned. "Who?"

"The Shadow Broker…" Joker looked back in his chair, at that Shepherd wasn't surprised, everyone knew about the Shadow Broker, the unknown individual at the head of an expansive organization which trades in information, always selling to the highest bidder. The Shadow Broker was also the reason Tali came to the Citadel, because of the data file she had proving Saren Arterius a traitor, which also put her in danger. "Your friend, Admiral Kohoku contacted us for information of any Cerberus bases, in return for our information he would supply us with information on Cerberus"

"And you turned him into a target" Shepherd said angrily.

"He knew the implications of having such information, we simply showed him the right way" the man said. "Unfortunately, he died before we could get the data, but then we heard about you fighting Cerberus…"

"And you want data from me" he said. "Well you can forget it, this goes to the Alliance"

"Be reasonable, Commander, the Alliance is just going to file the information away in some archives" the man said. "But it will come out eventually, no secret stays hidden for long, and we will get it eventually, it might as well be now. Also we are prepared to compensate you well"

"No way, I'm no traitor" Shepherd said firmly.

The man sighed. "That is unfortunate, Commander, the Shadow Broker will remember this…." He said. The comm shut off, and Joker looked at Shepherd.

"Uh, Shepherd, should we be worried about that?" he asked.

Shepherd frowned. "I don't know..." The spectre had a sinking feeling that he just made a new enemy.


	46. Chapter 38: Mindoir pt1

**Chapter 38: Mindoir pt1**

Shepherd was in the bed with Tali, staring at the ceiling, he couldn't sleep. He sighed and looked over to Tali who was sleeping peacefully in bed, the spectre kissed her shoulder and got out of bed careful not to wake her. He put on his sweatpants and walked out to his locker, he opened the locker and took out a picture of his family, he always did this when it was that time of the year. Remembrance Day, a special day all survivors of that day marked on their calendars, a day to remember those that were killed on Mindoir. He sat down on the bench, just staring at the picture, he'd done this every year like a ritual. _'What's the point of doing this, it's not like it's going to bring them back' _he thought bitterly. But he kept on looking at the picture for what looked like a long while…

"Wayne?" Shepherd looked behind him and saw Tali approaching him.

"What you doing up, Rookie?" Shepherd asked.

"I should be asking you that, you don't usually stay up this late" She said sitting next to him, Tali then saw Shepherd about to put something in his pocket, but then he stopped. "What's that?"

"A picture of my family, a year before….the attacks" Shepherd said solemnly. Tali gripped his hand and leaned her head into his shoulder, her way of saying she was there for him. "Thank you"

"What was family like?" Tali asked.

Shepherd smiled a little, he hadn't talked about his family in years, maybe this is what he needed someone to talk to. "Close, and at one time too close…"

_**Mindoir-thirteen years ago**_

_Fifteen year old Shepherd was on his favorite hill in the backyard of his house, it was the place he came for peace and quiet, to be alone with his thoughts. And more importantly to get away from his family, especially today of all days… "Wayney, they're here!" Kyoko said. Shepherd groaned, today was the Shepherd family annual reunion, a day where his grandparents, his cousins, and uncles and aunts come to trade embarrassing stories about each other, and especially about him. Shepherd got up and went to meet his family. He went inside the house, they were all here in the family room, Uncle Corey playing games with his cousins, he was always the kid-like of his uncles. Uncle Chris was on his omni-tool speaking to his boss like he always did, and Uncle George grabbing his phone and telling him to relax. _

_His Grandmother, and mother talking about the Shepherd men, while his Grandpa and father were laughing, to people outside, this was a happy ordinary family, but to Shepherd it was a smother-fest. He loved his family dearly, and would die for any of them, but he wished he could take a break from them, be alone for a while, but little did he know, his wish would come true in the worst way. His grandmother saw him and came up to him, and kissed his forehead._

"_Hey baby, how's my young man doing?" she asked with a smile._

"_I'm fine, grandmamma, how was your trip?" Shepherd asked._

_"Just fine, we would have here sooner, if your granddaddy wasn't so cheap" she said annoyed._

"_I was not being cheap, I call it being frugal" Grandpa Jack said in mock offense. Shepherd met with his cousins, from as young as Kyoko, to as old as he was. He spent a little more time with his family until, he wanted to be alone, knowing his mom would never let him go he did the next best thing, he snuck out. _

"_Wayne, Wayne, where are you?" His mother asked. She looked for Shepherd and saw a note._

'_Had something to do, see you later' –Wayne _

"_Let me guess, he snuck out again" John said._

_Sakura sighed. "At least he left a note this time, should we get him?" she asked._

_John shook his head. "Nah, he'll miss us and come home soon, just let him be" he said. "We'll just surprise him when he comes home" Shepherd walked down the road stretching his body, it was good to get out of the house. He went to the house of his best friend and girlfriend Emily 'Emi' Schwartz, as he came close he saw Emi in a grey tank top, cowboy boots and blue jean short shorts, she had a rake in her hand, no doubt her father was working her hard again, the Schwartz family were farmers that worked for the local market, Shepherd had known Emi since they were five, also his little sister Kyoko was best friends with Talitha, Emi's little sister. Talitha was on the yard playing with her dolls, she saw Shepherd and waved to him, Shepherd waved back._

_Shepherd gave a grin and sneaked up to Emi, he looked at Talitha and hushed her, Talitha nodded and covered her mouth. He came close and as he was about to make his move…. "Wayne Shepherd, don't even try it" Emi said sternly._

_Shepherd sighed. "Party pooper, how did you do that?" Emi turned around, and kissed Shepherd on the lips. Her lips were his favorite part of her, soft and tender, not at all like the tomboy she was._

"_One, you walk too loud and two I saw your reflection in the window" She said. "What are you doing here?"_

_Shepherd groaned. "Family thing, was wearing on me…" Emi gave him a look and Shepherd put his hands up. "Don't get me wrong, I love them but this annual family reunion is getting a bit much"_

"_You're lucky, Wayne, most would kill to have a family as close as yours" Emi said._

_Shepherd rolled his eyes. "Maybe…." He said. "So I was wondering if you would like to come with me, I'm going to biotic training thing" Emi nodded and went inside to put up her rake._

"_Can I come?" Talitha asked._

"_You're too little" Shepherd said._

"_I am not!" She pouted. She looked at her sister as she walked over to them. "Please Emi, I promise to be good" _

"_Not this time, Tal" She said. Talitha lowered her head and was about to cry, but Emi picked her up and kissed her cheek. "How about I bring you something back?" Talitha looked at her and smiled. Emi and Shepherd walked down the road._

"_Pushover" Shepherd said with a smirk._

"_Whatever, so have you made up your mind on joining the Alliance?" Emi asked._

"_Maybe…" Emi frowned at that, it wasn't that she had anything against the Alliance, but she couldn't bear to see Shepherd getting hurt or worse. She cares for him too deeply for that to happen. But she knew why he was thinking about it, people weren't exactly kind to biotics unless they worked for the military. Shepherd sighed. "I'm going to have to, mom and dad just doesn't have the money to keep buying me the extra food, not to mention I'd be doing more good for them, you know how much they pay" _

"_I know, but still if you do this, I'll miss you…" Shepherd blushed, and kissed her cheek._

"_Don't worry, I'll call you every day, give or take" he said. Emi smiled. The couple went downtown Ios, unlike most of the area, there was a lot to do; it had the hustle and bustle of cities on Elysium, but had the laid-back atmosphere of a small town. Of course they had to keep their eyes open, after all quiet didn't mean safe. They turned the corner and saw a huge building with Alliance symbol, there were lots of people crowding around one part of the building, Shepherd and Emi went to check it out._

"_What's going here? It's usually not crowed like this" Shepherd said. The couple walked into the crowd and gotten to the front as a blue object was flying across the area. Two men in Alliance training uniforms were glowing blue as the crowd watch; they were in the middle of a biotic sparring match. One man was dark-skinned in navy blue tank top and black shorts, another man was white skinned in a navy blue shirt and black sweats, the white skinned man went first with a biotic force. The dark-skinned man raised an arm and the force dissipated upon impact._

"_What happened?" Emi asked. _

"_The guy in the tank top just created a barrier, I heard that's not easy to do" Shepherd explained. The sparring match continued as things had gotten intense, the white skinned man threw warp field, while the dark-skinned man went with a throw field, and the two biotic fields collided in flurry of small explosions. The crowd looked on in awe, as the match continued._

"_Pretty…" Emi said in awe. _

"_Yes pretty, but if one those hit you at full force, you're a goner" Shepherd said._

_Emi raised a brow. "Since when are you an expert?"_

_Shepherd blushed. "Since I accidentally punch hole in the shed when I was practicing my powers…."_

_**Now**_

Tali was sitting on the table listening to the story. "Mindoir sounded so nice"

Shepherd lowered his head. "It was, as a kid I took a lot of things for granted, and little did I know it would cost me in the end…."

_**Review and Comment, if you have any ideas on how to make Part two of Mindoir better, PM me on my profile. All ideas are welcomed.**_


	47. Chapter 39: Mindoir pt2

**Chapter 39: Mindoir pt2**

Shepherd went and gotten a cup of coffee, he wasn't going to be sleeping for the rest of the night. He offered Tali a drink, but she had gotten herself some sterilized water, and sat next to Shepherd. And the spectre continued his story. It was strange to be telling this story after so many years, but Tali had become important to him, he trusted her. "Seeing two advance biotics in action, made me determined to practice more of my abilities" he said. "So much so I challenged one of them to sparring match"

Tali looked at him. "Really? And how did you do?"

Shepherd smiled. "Got my ass handed to me" he said. Tali blinked at him, and Shepherd chuckled at her expression. Then he had gotten serious. "Little did I know, the little tricks I saw, would end up saving my life…."

_**Mindoir-thirteen years ago**_

_After the sparring match between the two biotics, the crowd had dispersed, moving on with their business. Shepherd however wanted to learn more about his powers, and challenged one of them to a sparring match. The two men looked at each outer, and the white-skinned man came up and agree to Shepherd's challenge, much to Emi's worry. He introduced himself as Cliff, a biotic from Eden Prime, unlike his friend Kwame, the biotic from Earth, he was a lot skinnier. Shepherd and Cliff circle around each other looking for the best way to strike, Shepherd was happy about one thing he wasn't going to be underestimated, after all an inexperienced biotic was just as dangerous as an experienced one. Shepherd struck first, using the strongest biotic force he could muster, but Cliff stood their blocking his blasts with his barrier. It was Cliff's turn and blew him back with a small throw field, and landed on the ground. Shepherd got up and charged the man._

"_Wayne, watch out!" Cliff stood ready, but Shepherd surprises the man, by side stepping and gave a biotic kick to his arm. Cliff blocks it and pushes him back, and gave an impressed smirk._

"_Not bad, kid, using your biotics to increase the power of your blows" he said. "That technique is not exactly rookie stuff, who thought you?"_

_Shepherd smirked. "Self-taught, since I was twelve" Cliff gave whistle, and made a gesture that said bring it on. Shepherd used a biotic throw, the power was great, but the control was poor as it missed Cliff entirely and hit the floor. Shepherd fired off throw fields rapidly, but the soldier just dodged gracefully, until Cliff disappeared. Shepherd blinked in surprise and looked around for the soldier._

"_Wayne behind you!" Emi said. Shepherd looked back alarmed._

"_Too late" he said. A wave of biotic energy blows him backwards and Shepherd landed on his back. Emi ran to him, worried Shepherd had gotten hurt._

"_Not bad, kid, you might have what it takes to join the Alliance" Kwame said. "After a little training of course" All of the sudden, they heard clapping, Shepherd and Emi looked around and saw a crowd of people around them clapping, Shepherd's match with the Alliance Soldier had drawn in a huge crowd. Shepherd blushed and rubbed his head sheepishly, however the feeling of accomplishment soon ended when they heard sirens blaring in the air._

"_WARNING, UNIDENTIFIED SHIPS HAVE BREACHED ORBIT, THEY ARE CONSIDERED HOSTILE" The VI said. "ALL CIVILIANS TO THE SAFE HOUSES, REPEAT ALL CIVILIANS TO THE SAFE HOUSES" The crowd had gotten nervous and panicked while Cliff and Kwame was trying to calm them down. Shepherd looked around and saw Emi running the way they came, Shepherd ran grabbed her hand._

"_Wait, Emi" Shepherd said._

"_I have to make sure my family is safe, let go!" Emi said. Shepherd pulled her towards him and she looked in his eyes._

"_It's too dangerous…I'll go" Shepherd said._

"_But…"_

"_Emi, think, I have biotic powers, you don't" Shepherd said. "I can get there safely, and check on our families okay?" Emi reluctantly nodded. _

"_Call me as soon you make it to the safe house" She said softly. Shepherd kissed Emi deeply on the lips and ran to their family. Emi looked on and went back to the soldiers to go to the safe house. While Shepherd was running to their houses, he saw the devastation first hand, burning houses, bodies in the streets._

"_Shit they did this much damage already?" Shepherd asked. He then heard gunshots and went to hide, he looked over cover and saw men and women on their knees, and they had so much fear in their eyes. He then saw a young man no older than himself, and a fresh bullet wound in the head, also his assailant…Batarians. Everyone knew how much they hated humans, and humans hated them too, but unlike the batarians humans didn't actively seek a fight. He looked at the batarian in grey and green armor; he was smiling at his brutality, which made Shepherd sick to his stomach. He was about to turn and go another way, he hated to have to leave those people to their fate, but he had his own family that he was worried about, and he had a promise to keep._

"_You monster, he was just a child…he never done anything to you!" one of the women said angrily. The batarian hit the woman in mouth with butt of her gun for her trouble, Shepherd looked back as he saw the batarians gather around and kick her while she screamed in pain. The men and women could only look away as they saw the brave woman being beaten within an inch of her life._

"_You know what the most annoying thing about you apes is?" The batarian asked menacingly. "You never seem to know your place, your kind barely made off that rock you call a planet for a decade, you kind barely pushed back the turians on that Shanxi place, and you think the galaxy is yours to take…." The batarian pointed his gun at the woman. "You need to learn your place…" The woman closed her eyes with tears flowing down her face, Shepherd felt conflicted, if he stopped to help them there would be a chance his family and Emi's family would not make it, but he didn't want to leave those people to their fate. He had to make a choice…_

"_Damn it…" Shepherd said running back. Before the batarian could pull the trigger, he felt a force that pushed him off his feet. The batarians then focus their attention from the downed woman to Shepherd as he used the strongest biotic force he could muster. The batarians began to open fire, and he ducked behind a rock he was close to, Shepherd was trapped without a gun he couldn't face them on even grounds. Also the batarians was breathing down his neck. "Guess I'll improvise…" _

_Shepherd looked over cover and saw the closest batarian, and saw a canister near him, he bioticly lifted the canister. It took all of his concentration to keep the canister stable, as he didn't have much practice manipulating objects, it would have to do. "Hey, blink!" Shepherd got out of cover and batarian aimed for him but he got hit by the biotic charged canister. The other batarians opened fired on the boy, but Shepherd tossed the canister at the aliens while getting hit in the arm with a stray bullet. One of the bullets struck the canister and exploded, wiping out the batarians._

"_Take that…" Shepherd said falling to the ground holding his arm. The people ran over to thank Shepherd and patching him up. However, Shepherd couldn't rest as he saw explosions coming from the location of Shepherd's neighborhood. "No…" he said in horror._

_He picked up a rifle from one of the dead batarian and ran toward the location of the smoke, his arm hurt but he couldn't stop. He went to Emi's house first and saw her father and mother in a puddle of blood, he checked their pulse, they were gone…he looked around for Talitha, but couldn't find any sign of her, he saw the house collapsed from the orbit strike, if Talitha was there, she either died from the explosion or the house. He clenched his fist, how could he look Emi in the eyes and tell her he failed? "I'm sorry…"_

_He ran to his house, and to his horror it was destroyed, he ran to the house only to find his grandparents, his uncles, and cousins dead, they all had burn marks on their bodies from the explosions. He then heard gunshots, and ran to the location of sound, when he got there his eyes when wide with horror as his mother and father gunned down in front of him. "MAMA, DADDY!" He glared at his family's assailants laughing and gloating at their deaths, he gripped the rifle tightly and charged the batarians full of anger and sadness, if he was going to die, he was going to die making sure the batarians paid. "DIE YOU FUCKING BLINKS!"_

_**Now**_

Tali looked on as he finished his story, his face twisted with great pain, as tears ran down his face. Now the quarian felt horrible, she had wanted to know about his past, but she had also made him relive that day. "I fought them until I had nothing left, by the time an Alliance fleet led by Anderson finally came I was close to bleeding out" Shepherd said sadly.

"What happened to Emi? You said she went to the safe house"

"Never made it…the batarians killed her when they did an orbit strike" he said. He then sighed "This picture is the only thing from life I have left…"

"Wayne…" Tali said sadly as she gripped his hand.

"Every night from then on I had nightmares of that day…my friends and family all blaming me for failing to save them" he said sadly. "When Anderson took me in, but I was damaged goods, my grades were falling, I had gotten into fights, acted out" He pointed to his blond-dyed hair. "I dyed my hair; to try to change myself…I even tried to end my life…"

"Keelah…" Tali gasped. She tighten her grip, she didn't want to hear he had almost killed himself.

"Then Anderson, talked to me, got me help…I was getting better…and for that I decided to join the Alliance for saving my life" Shepherd said. "So now you know, does that change anything about how you feel about me?" Tali looked him, she suddenly realized why he said he hated to be pitied, it was condescending to him, it had only reinforced feeling of self-hatred for letting his friends and family die. It was just like when someone 'pitied' quarians, it had only served to make them feel weak.

"No, I love you Wayne Allen Shepherd, faults and all, I'll never abandon you" Tali said hugging him. Shepherd smiled.

"Thank you, Rookie…"

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	48. Chapter 40: Bring down the Sky pt1

**Chapter 40: Bring down the Sky pt1**

The team was on the lower deck watching a biotic sparring match between Wrex, Liara, Kaiden and Shepherd. It was Shepherd's idea of keeping their biotics fresh while they were waiting for a lead from the council and a way break the boredom. Shepherd teamed up with Kaiden, while Liara teamed up with Wrex, and the match started. Wrex threw a warp field at Shepherd, but Kaiden moved in front and blocked it with a barrier. Shepherd used that time use a throw field on the krogan, and blew him back, but he was caught by Liara. The match was drawing an audience, as everyone, that was not on duty was stopping to take a look.

"Keelah…" Tali said in awe. She knew how dangerous biotic could be in battle, but see couldn't but think the light works was beautiful, especially when she looked at Shepherd. Her thoughts were interrupted when the ship violently shook and every one were thrown to the ground. When the shaking stopped, everyone got off the ground.

"What the hell was that?!" Ash asked alarmed. Shepherd opened the comm.

"Joker, what's with the turbulence?" Shepherd asked.

"It's not my fault, an asteroid almost careened into us, it took all I had to evade it" Joker said. "Oh shit…"

"What is it?"

"Emergency SOS, coming from the Asteroid" Joker said. "You may want to see this, Commander"

"Got it" Shepherd said. "Everyone to your stations and stand by for orders" The crew nodded and dispersed from the lower deck. Shepherd went up the cockpit and met with Joker. "Patch it through"

"Hello? Hello? Can anyone hear me?" A woman asked. Joker opened the com.

"This is Commander Shepherd of the SSV Normandy, we can here you" Shepherd said.

The woman sighs a breath of relief. "Oh thank god, I have to hurry before they catch on to me…"she said. "Listen to me; we're all going to die, if you don't stop this asteroid from colliding with planet"

Shepherd and Joker looked at each other; they couldn't believe what this woman was asking of them. "Excuse me, but how do you expect us to stop the asteroid?" he asked. There was static for a while. "Ma'am?"

"There are three fusion torches that are propelling the asteroid, if you can disable them…" They then heard thud. "Oh, god they're here, please stop this, you have four hours…" The comm cut off.

"What the hell was that?" Joker asked.

Shepherd frowned. "Trouble…"

_Terra Nova was one of the Class-1 colonization prospects discovered by the first wave of Alliance surveys in 2150. It was the second human extrasolar colony, and the first beyond the Charon Relay. It currently has the highest population of any Alliance colony. Though banded by a harsh equatorial desert, areas closer to the poles are temperate. The pace of development was modest until extensive deposits of platinum were discovered in the 2170s. This rare metal, required in the clean-burning hydrogen cells that power private vehicles, attracted a 'platinum rush' of immigrants and investment from throughout Alliance space. In the past twelve years, Terra Nova has seen a 30% rise in population, and growth does not appear to be slowing._

_X57 is a metallic asteroid, originally located at the trailing Lagrange point of the gas giant Borr. With the increased development on Terra Nova, a new orbital port facility was necessary. Due to a shortage of funding, it was decided to 'mine out' X57, using the recovered resources to finish out the interior for habitation. The asteroid was decelerated from Borr's orbit using fusion torches, allowing it to fall into the orbit of Terra Nova. Recently, communications with the engineering team on X57 have been lost. The fusion torches have reignited, and the asteroid is accelerating towards Terra Nova.-Codex_

The mako dropped out of the sky, ready to stop the asteroid. For this mission Shepherd brought Tali, because of her technical expertise and Garrus for sniper support. As it landed the tank's computer system showed them they were close to the first fusion torch. As the team got near, they were hit hard from the side.

"What was that?" Shepherd asked.

"Turrets on out left!" Tali said. Garrus activated the Mako's guns and entered sniper mode and blasted the turrets to pieces. Then the tank was hit again this time from the back, and right, Garrus swerved the gun around as the turrets fired more missiles, the turian shot them from the air and then focused on the turrets. With the last turret down, the team had a clear road to the fusion torch. Once inside, Tali went to work on the first torch, while Garrus and Shepherd stood guard, the loud whirl that the team had heard since being inside ceased.

"The first torch is offline, Wayne" Tali said walking toward them.

"Good job, rookie, let's get to the next torch" Shepherd said. The team made their way downstairs, disabling the first torch had been pretty easy, a little too easy to Tali.

"I'm surprised we haven't been met with much resistance." She said. They then heard the clicking of guns. "Bosh'tet!" The sound of gunfire made the team scatter to cover; the quarian looked over cover and saw their enemies. The team were surrounded by four-eyed aliens and fish-like dogs, Batarians and varren.

"Blinks!" Shepherd growled. Tali looked at the spectre, Shepherd's biotics were flaring up, tell-tell sign of Shepherd being upset, but Shepherd was glowing a brilliant blue something she's never seen before. Her lover looked like a different person as rage twisted his features. He jumped out of cover.

"Wayne wait!" The batarians let loose their varren, and the fish-dogs charged. One of them lunged at Shepherd, but the spectre just smashed the fish-dog with his shotgun hard and blasted it point-blank in the head. Shepherd then glowed blue and lifted the rest up with a singularity field and shut them down with a warp field. The batarians opened fired on the spectre, who was charging in recklessly, Tali couldn't look away as Shepherd devastated the batarians. The fight was finished quickly and the spectre looked back at Garrus and Tali, his armor smeared with blood of his enemies and his eyes, cold and full of rage, not focused and disciplined as usual. He was terror incarnate, Tali couldn't look at him, for the first time Shepherd scared her. She looked at Garrus, he must have had the same feeling also, she had never seen a paler turian.

A groan snapped them out of their stupor, and looked on the ground; surprisingly one of the batarians was still alive. Shepherd went over to the batarian with his gun ready for the kill, Garrus spoke up. "Uh…S…Shepherd, maybe w…we should get info from him" he said trying to contain his fear.

Shepherd looked at him and then back at the batarian, he then picked him up by the neck and slammed him against the wall hard, his hard gaze never leaving the four-eye alien. "Talk, you fucking blink" he said coldly as he grasped the alien's neck more tightly.

"Screw you, ape!" he said. He then spit in Shepherd's face, Tali had to admit the batarian was either brave or stupid for doing that. Turns out he was stupid, as Shepherd extended two fingers and charged them biotic energy. _'No, he's not going to…' _Tali thought in horror. Without hesitation, Shepherd dug his fingers into one of the batarian's eyes, she felt sick to her stomach as he heard the batarian scream in agony. His arm dripped with the black blood, Shepherd looked at it with a sickening fascination.

"So the blood of you blinks is black, how fitting..." Shepherd said.

"Fuck you, ape..." the batarian said. He was trying to keep a brave face, but Tali and Garrus knew the truth, he was scared. For years his kind used brutal tactics to bring fear to humans, but to see it reversed on him by a human was poetic justice, but to see Shepherd like this, hurt the quarian.

"Wrong answer, blink" Shepherd said coldly. "You've got three eyes left, you better make it count" When the batarian didn't give Shepherd answers he wanted, Shepherd kept impaling his eyes one by one until he had only one left. "Last eye, last chance blink"

"Damn human, you won't stop this, you and your kind will all burn, Balak will make sure of it" he said weakly. _'Must be the leader'_ Tali thought. She then saw a wicked smile spread across Shepherd's face, it chilled her to her core, he enjoyed torturing the batarian, a race that took everything from him. Shepherd had always been ruthless, of that she knew, but the spectre had never been sadistic person she was seeing now. Tali didn't know who this man was, because it wasn't the man who saved her in the wards, who she fell in love with, this was a stranger wearing Shepherd's skin.

"Balak huh? He can tell you of his failure after I send him after you" Shepherd said coldly. The next thing she heard was the sicken sound of the batarian's neck being snapped. He dropped to the ground, with his last eye staring blankly up in space. A terminal beeped and Shepherd went to answer it, a woman could be heard.

"I'm reading that the torch is offline. Was that you? Can you hear me?" she asked.

Shepherd spoke in the com; his voice was a little calmer now, much to Tali's relief. "Yeah, who are you?"

"My name is Kate Bowman," the woman introduced herself; "I'm an engineer. I was part of the team assigned to bring this asteroid to Terra Nova. We were attacked yesterday by batarian extremists. My brother and I have hidden since they arrived. I think they know the torch went out."

Shepherd looked back at the dead batarian. "We've met them" he said.

"Do you know what they're planning?" she asked.

"Apparently, to wipe out Terra Nova, at least that's what I found out" Shepherd said.

"What?!" Bowman asked alarmed. "But we've done nothing to them! If this asteroid hits, millions of people will die!"

"They won't succeed you have my word, the blinks will die, before that happens" Shepherd said angrily.

"Thank-"sounds could be heard from the com. "They're near. I've got to go. Good luck!" The comm closed.

"Move out" Shepherd said walking away. Tali looked on sadly, the way Shepherd was now, it could only end in tragedy. _'Please don't let you anger cloud you, Wayne'_ she thought.

_**Watch your back Balak, the butcher is coming for you…**_

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	49. Chapter 41: Bring down the Sky pt2

**Chapter 41: Bring down the Sky pt2**

_A race of four-eyed bipeds native to the world of Khar'shan, the batarians is a disreputable species that chose to isolate itself from the rest of the galaxy. The Terminus Systems are infested with batarian pirate gangs and slaving rings, fueling the stereotype of the batarian thug. It should be noted that these criminals do not represent average citizens, who are forbidden to leave batarian space by their omnipresent and paranoid government._

_Despite several disagreements with the Citadel and simmering hostility toward humans, most batarians prefer profitable pursuits such as drug running and slave grabs to out-and-out warfare. They have a reputation for being shrewd businessmen and merchants, though in more lawless regions of the galaxy like Omega, negotiations with a batarian are likely to be conducted at gunpoint.-Codex_

As the team leave the fusion torch station, Shepherd was shot by a nervous man names Simon Atwell, much to Tali's dismay, however Shepherd was able to calm her saying his shields deflected the shot. After everything was cleared up, Simon tells them about the asteroid, as it turned out if it crashed into the planet, not only will it destroy the colony and kill everyone on the surface, but the devastation would effectively kill the planet.

"Spirits…."

"Keelah…"

Atwell shook his head. "I knew the batarians were bad, but this….I didn't think they would go that far…" he said.

"Believe it, Atwell, they are capable of this…the Council should have wiped them off the fucking map ages ago, the galaxy would have better off" Shepherd said coldly. Garrus and Tali looked at Shepherd shocked, as angry as the spectre could be at his enemies, he never once approved of genocide. Atwell looked visibly disturbed also, but kept his mouth shut. "Where is the second torch?"

"North of here, between two mountain ridges" Atwell said. "And thank you, there are four million people down there, Shepherd. I... my family. They live in Aronas. My kids and grand-kids. Nice communities, good schools..."

Shepherd held up his hand and his face, at least for a little while softened. "We'll stop them, promise, Terra Nova won't become another Mindoir, I swear it" He said. "Just stay out of sight as best you can. This facility is cleared for now, but the danger isn't over yet."

Atwell nodded. "Okay, I'll just lock the door when you leave, before you go, that fusion torch is surround by blasting caps with proximity detectors, your tank will set them off, so you'll have to go on foot, even then you'll be careful, just go slow and easy and you'll be fine" Shepherd nodded and the team left for the next fusion torch. The ride was long and silent; Shepherd didn't say much other than the occasional order, the batarians had done a good job of letting out Shepherd's dark side, a side that was scaring Tali more as time went on. The mako made it to the second fusion torch, and made short work of the turrets. Soon the batarians started firing on the tank, Garrus entered sniper mode and readied the main gun, one shot and the batarian guards were down.

The got out and made the slow trek to base, slowly after the signal Tali rigged up to make sure they didn't hit the caps. If their omni-tool started beeping, it meant they were too close and in danger of stepping on a cap. Thanks to Atwell's advice, they were able to make it to the other side; Garrus went over to the terminal and disabled the blasting caps making it safe to walk next time around. They went inside and were met with more batarian troops and reprogrammed rocket drones, one of the many downside of having an archenemy was that they knew how your tech worked. Shepherd and team went to cover; Shepherd threw a grenade at the batarians as they shot at him while Garrus provided sniper support. Tali hacked one of the rocket drones and it attacked the batarians and she sabotaged the rest of the drones. The battle ended, Tali came up to Shepherd and noticed his arm was dripping, she gasped, it was his blood.

"Wayne, you're hurt" Tali said concerned.

"I'm fine" Shepherd said.

"But…"

"I'm fine!" he said firmly. The quarian was taken aback, he had never yelled at her before. "Now shut down the torches, that's an order"

"Yes sir…" She went to the terminal, to shut down the fusion torches, while working on the torches Garrus spoke up.

"Boss, don't you think you were a little harsh, Tali were only worried about you" he said.

"No need, this is only a flesh wound, I can go on" Shepherd said emotionless. "I can't waste time, not while those fucking blinks are planning blowing Terra Nova back to the Stone Age" The whirling of the fusion torch quieted and then ended as Tali came back to Shepherd and Garrus.

"Done" Tali said.

"Let…" Shepherd was interrupted by a woman's voice, it was Bowman again.

"Are you there? You've got to hurry. You've really pissed them off. Their leader's setting charges everywhere. I think he's going to blow this whole facility."

Shepherd frowned. "So now that his plan isn't working he's planning a scorched earth approached, fucking coward" he said. "Understood" As he was turning the spectre heard a rough male voice.

"Great away from there, ape!" the hostile voice said. Static could be heard, and then the sound of a struggle taking place. Then there was silence, Shepherd looked on with a clenched fist, Bowman may have been killed trying to help them. The comm opened and voices could be heard.

"Aaron!"

"Whose shutting down the torches?" the rough voice asked. _'Must be Balak'_ he thought . Then a clicking sound could be heard. "You don't tell me, he will die!" Sounds of whimpering could be heard from the comm, it was Aaron. Bowman was silent, possibly to try to protect them, but Shepherd couldn't take it anymore.

"Wait, my name is Shepherd, I'm the one the one shutting down the torches"

"I won't ask you again" Shepherd eyes went wide, they couldn't hear him, the comm must had be damaged by the struggle they heard. A shot and a scream could be heard, and then sounds of a struggle, and then silence…Then a voice.

"Find this problem and take care of it…" The comm closed.

"She protected us, even when she knew her brother would die…" Tali said. "Balak has to be stopped"

"He will die, I promise that" Shepherd said angrily. The team left for the last torch, as the team drove Tali could see the spectre's composure breaking more and more the pain, the anger, the sadness of that day was reaching its boiling point, the more the mission dragged on, threating to overwhelm him. She wanted to help him, but Shepherd kept bringing a wall up between them, and if something didn't happen soon, he would do something he would regret. The mako parked the mako after destroying the turets, and went inside where they met with a batarian's voice.

"Hold it right there"

"Who's there?" he demanded to know. Three batarians turned the corner and Shepherd's eyes narrowed as he glowed blue, Tali and Garrus raised their weapons. "What do you want, blink?" The two batarians behind them raised their weapons, but the leader raised his hand to lower their weapons.

"Listen, we can do this the hard way, or we can end it peacefully" the batarian said.

"Peace? I didn't think you blinks knew what the word mean" Shepherd said with venom. "Besides, I love the hard way."

"So I see" The batarian sighed. "Look, I'm just doing my job, hijacking this rock wasn't my idea, I signed on to make a little profit. A quick slave grab. Noth..." Shepherd clenched his fist and immediately raised his right arm and enveloped the batarian in a biotic field, the two batarians raised their weapons, but Garrus and Tali gunned them down. Meanwhile Shepherd was slammed the leader against the walls and ceiling, with thirteen years of pain fueling his blows.

"BASTARD! YOU BLINKS ARE LOWER THAN SCUM!" Shepherd said yelling. "A QUICK SLAVE GRAB?!" Shepherd held up the batarian in mid-air, glowing an intense blue his hand started to close slowly and the batarian screaming in agony from the biotic field crushing him.

"Please mercy…" He said in fear.

"MERCY?! YOU DARE BEG FOR MERCY IN FRONT OF ME?! WHERE WAS THE MERCY WHEN YOU BLINKS GUNNED DOWN MY PARENTS IN FRONT OF ME?!" Shepherd asked slamming the batarian on the floor again, again, and again. Shepherd's breathing was shallow and heavy, Tali looked in his eyes as tears flowed from his eyes. "What gives you the right to live and not them?!" He then felt a three-fingered hand on his arm, it was Tali with a look of concern in her eyes.

"No, Wayne, please this is not you" she said softly.

"They deserve this, Tali…for every person they harmed, for every person whose life they ruined!" Shepherd said in tearful rage. "Why shouldn't I make them suffer?!"

"Because you are better than this, better than them…" Tali said. "Your past doesn't have to control you…" Shepherd dropped him to the floor, Tali nodded to Garrus and the turian secured the unconscious batarian. Shepherd dropped to the floor, sobbing, Tali went down and held him as he cried into her shoulder.

_**Trust me when I say this, this won't be end of Shepherd's tears…Review and Comment**_


	50. Chapter 42: Bring down the Sky pt3

**Chapter 42: Bring down the Sky pt3**

_The Citadel Council made first contact with the batarians in approximately 200 BCE, and granted the batarians an embassy on the Citadel a century later. Despite being welcomed into the galactic community, batarian aggression provoked several crises in galactic relations over the years. Sometime around 1785 CE, a batarian fleet bombarded the salarian colony world of Mannovai; in 1913, the Batarian Hegemony annexed the independent asari colony of Esan; and in 2115, Citadel forces skirmished with batarian forces on the planet Enael._

_In the early 2160s, humans began to colonize the Skyllian Verge, a region the batarians were already actively settling. The batarians asked the Citadel Council to intervene and declare the Verge an area of "batarian interest". When the Council refused, the batarians closed their Citadel embassy and severed diplomatic and economic relations, becoming an inward-looking rogue state._

_Money and weapons funneled from the batarian government to criminal organizations led to many brutal raids on human colonies in the Verge, culminating in the Skyllian Blitz of 2176, an attack on the human capital of Elysium by batarian-funded pirates and slavers. In 2178, the Alliance retaliated with a crushing assault on the moon of Torfan, long used as a staging base by batarian-backed criminals. In the aftermath, the batarians retreated into their own systems, and are now rarely seen in Citadel space.-Codex_

After Tali shut down the final fusion torch, it was time to face Balak and save the hostages. Tali's talk had made him think, he almost jeopardized the mission because of his personal issues, and worse he treated his friends like crap. Sure they understood why he acted the way he acted, but that was no excuse, he was the leader he had to act by example. Shepherd looked behind him.

"Rookie, Garrus, I'm sorry for how I was acting" Shepherd said.

"Boss, you don't have to apologize, any one of us would have lost if we had your history with the batarians" Garrus said. "Don't worry about it"

"But, I let my hate almost consume me" Shepherd said sadly. "I made it personal, and I almost got you and I killed."

"But you didn't, we're okay Wayne, really…" Tali said. "You really think one event like this is going to make us turn our backs on you? We're with you no matter what"

"Thank you" Shepherd said. When the team arrives, they destroy both the normal stationary turrets and the mobile turrets on the tracks above. After they were done, they went inside the building, Shepherd was impressed with set up of the base, unlike the first three bases this one had a bit of comfort. The spectre guessed X-57 was a long-term project, which was why it had everything the engineer's needs for them to work efficiently. As nice as it was, he couldn't admire it for long, the main room was full of Batarian Troopers, Shock Troopers, Engineers, and Defense Drones.

"Tali, you're with me on the drones, Garrus find a spot to snipe from, and we'll cover you" he ordered. Tali and Garrus nodded. The team went into formation. Shepherd overloaded and sabotaged some the drones, while Tali hacked the drones to fight against the batarians. The batarian engineers tried to activate more drones, but Garrus used his sniper rifle to put down one batarian after the next. After a while the batarians, stopped coming.

"I think we got them all, boss" Garrus said.

Shepherd shook his head. "This only the beginning, standby" he said. Shepherd and Tali moved slowly across the base until he saw more batarian troopers. "There's a remaining concentration of enemy troops on the other side of the room. Pick them off with you rifle, and we'll finish the leftovers."

"Got you, boss" Garrus said. He fired and got one of them in the head. "They've gone downstairs, they're out of my sight, boss" he said.

Shepherd nodded. "We got this, just watch your back" he said. Shepherd and Tali rushed the troopers. The batarians were really giving the couple a run for their money, calling in more drones to swarm them. Shepherd corralled them with his singularity field and destroyed them with a warp field. Tali sabotaged the drones causing to explode, and hacked the other drones to attack the batarians, but the engineers just destroyed them before they got close. The engineers kept up their onslaught, freezing Shepherd and Tali in cover. Garrus came over to help and sniped a few engineers, but the batarians had positioned themselves well at the top of the staircase, by being surrounded by several plant boxes and railings they were practically protected on all sides. Shepherd then noticed the canisters next to the railings. "Tali can you get those canisters?" he asked.

Tali smirked. "Do you even have to ask? She asked. Shepherd gave the quarian cover, shooting the engineers, while they crouched under cover Tali overloaded the canisters, causing them explode and the batarians to fly.

"Nice one, rookie" Shepherd said with a smirk. He opened his com. "Garrus, meet up with us" he ordered. Just as Garrus had walked down the stairs, a voice appeared from behind them, from up the stairs.

"You humans" The team turned around ready to fight, they faced a batarian in red armor, surrounded by his men and a pack of varren. His face twisted up with rage, as he stared at the group. "You're almost more trouble than you're worth"

"I could say the same about you, Balak" Shepherd said. "Why don't you give up, I wouldn't want to mess up the nice people's base"

Balak scoffed. "Predictable, but this is over"

"I think it's the other way around, the fusion torches are stopped and most of your men are dead"

Balak smirked and revealed a small silver cylinder. "And I believe you are wrong, in my hand is the detonator for the charges in your helper and her friend's room, follow me and they will die" he said. "Would you risk their death?"

"A hostage situation. Ugly and very batarian." Garrus whispered. "He knows he can't take us so he's bargaining the lives of the hostages for his freedom."

Shepherd look back at Tali. "Can you hack it?" he asked.

"I'll try…" she said. "Just keep him talking" Shepherd nodded, and looked at the batarian, his smug smile was making the spectre sick to his stomach.

"Not that simple Balak, you think after what happened here, I'm just going to let you walk?" Shepherd asked.

Balak glared at Shepherd. "This is nothing ape, you humans are have done far worse to us"

"Really? 'Cause last I checked it wasn't us who are trying to kill four million your people, blink" He said. He went into a rant on how this as an act of reprisal for humanity's actions in the Skyllian Verge, stealing territories and resources that should have belonged to the batarians, all because the Council saw a military advantage in befriending the Alliance. "So how does killing innocents help your case?"

"I could say the same thing about you, Butcher" Shepherd narrowed his eyes. "Don't be so surprised, when one of my men told of a yellow-haired human I knew it was you, tell me how many innocent batarians died at Torfan?"

"I'd hardly call them innocents, you drew first blood on Elysium, when you did that we pushed back" Shepherd said coldly. "You should be glad we didn't just wipe your people off the face of the galaxy" He then smirked. "Though if we did, it would have been an improvement, Khar'shan would look so much better as a parking lot, don't you agree?"

Balak growled and gave a murderous glare. "Watch what you say human. I may just kill the hostages, before I leave" he hissed.

"I can see the headlines now, 'The Citadel Council today invited humanity to join the council for killing off the last of the useless batarian race, how does that sound Balaky?" Shepherd asked.

"I'll kill you…I'll kill you human" Balak growled. "But first I'll make you suffer!" Balak pressed down on the button and expected to hear an explosion, but looked at the detonator shocked when it didn't work.

"Aw what's wrong, your toy isn't working?" Shepherd asked smirking.

"Damn you ape! Kill them, kill them all!" Balak said furiously. The batarians came charging in, guns blazing as the team went to cover. The varren came up first, their first target was Tali, the quarian blasted a couple before the ones in the back dived for at her only to be taken down by Shepherd's throw field. Garrus got to a good place to snipe and shot engineer trying to activate some drones. Some rockets fired at Garrus, pushing him out his cover, and more drones joined in firing at Garrus, Tali hacked the drones, causing devastation on the batarians and drones. When they were all killed, they focused their attention on Balak. Despite all his big talk, Balak was pathetically easy to defeat, the team found more challenge in fighting his men. When the battle was over, Shepherd approached the bloody but alive batarian.

"Bastard…" Balak said coughing up blood. "Do... your worst... but there will be others... I await the day when your colonies are destroyed... you apes are enslaved... and Earth burned to the ground... "

Shepherd gave a cruel smirk. "Who ever said was going to kill you?" he asked.

Balak eyes grew wide. "W-what?"

"I just came here to stop the asteroid, after all what kind of human would I be, to deny Terra Nova their justice." He said coldly. He faced his team. "Let's get out of here"

"THIS ISN"T OVER APE! JUST YOU WAIT THE REBELLIONS WILL BEGIN AND YOU WILL BE FINISHED!" Balak screamed as the team left.

_**Shepherd the troll**__**…REVIEW AND COMMENT**_


	51. Chapter 43a: Virmire pt1

**Chapter 43a: Virmire pt1**

It was a peaceful day on the Normandy Shepherd and crew was eating lunch until they heard the ship's com. Since dealing with Balak and his asteroid plot, the spectre was much calmer and friendlier however his sense of serenity was disrupted by the comm opening. "Message coming in Commander, it's the council" Joker said. Shepherd sighed. He was not in the mood for the councilors' bitching.

"Thanks Joker, I'll take it in the com room" Shepherd said. Kaiden spoke up.

"For a group that doesn't like you they sure, ask for your help a lot" he said. Shepherd smirked.

"Maybe they know how awesome I can be" he joked.

"Nope, that can't be it" Tali said joked. Shepherd looked at her feigning insult.

"Ouch rookie, you know how to wound me" he said being playfully dramatic "And here I thought you loved me" Tali giggled.

"I do, but someone have keep your ego in check" She said. Shepherd kissed her.

"And that's why you're my girl" he said with a smile. Wrex almost gagged on his food.

"Will you go and talk to those pijacks? You're giving me indigestion" he said annoyed. Shepherd laughed and walked to the com room.

'_Now to talk with my favorite people'_ he thought annoyed. Shepherd pressed a button and the councilors appeared. "Councilors" he said politely. "How nice to see you"

"You can stop with the disingenuous greeting, Shepherd, it doesn't suit you" the turian councilor said annoyed.

Shepherd crossed his arms. "And I hear I thought you missed my sunny personality, just like I missed yours" he said sarcastically. The turian glared at him and was about to say something until the asari spoke up.

"I know how much you like to antagonize us, but do try to be professional for once" the asari councilor said. "We have an update on Saren"

Shepherd stood at attention, it's been a long time since they heard anything on Saren "What ya got?" he asked.

"We've received an urgent message from one of our infiltration regiments in the Traverse," the salarian Councilor explained.

"And?" Shepherd asked.

"We currently have several Special Tasks Groups scattered in the border regions of Citadel space" the asari said. "This particular unit was gathering intel on Saren"

Shepherd sighed. "You know, it would have been nice to know that earlier instead of me running around, like a headless chicken." He said annoyed.

"We can't have you racing around the galaxy chasing false leads, Shepherd" the turian Councilor said "Given your tendency to cause trouble that would be problematic, we only contacted you on a need to know basis."

"Because you've been so good at getting me information" Shepherd said sarcastically. Shepherd shook his head. "Anyway, what is this significant information?"

"We cannot fully say," the salarian Councilor answered. "The message we received was little more than static. We suspect the team is currently unable to set up proper interstellar communications. But, it was sent on a channel reserved for mission critical communications. Whatever they were trying to tell us, we know it was important."

"We know the unit was investigating Saren," the turian Councilor continued, "We know they tried to tell us something important, and we know they were on the planet of Virmire. We can also conclude that they are in trouble, and have found something on Saren."

"Given you interest in that case, we thought you might want to know," the asari said.

Shepherd sighed. "I guess some info is better than none, I know better to look a gift horse in the mouth" he said. The three councilors looked at them blankly. "Never mind, I'll into it"

"We'll keep you advised if we learn anything else," the asari said, "Good luck Commander."

After the holographic images had faded, Shepherd opened a comm. "Joker, set coordinates to the Hoc system"

"Got you, commander, ETA in ten hours" Joker said.

_Virmire is a lush world on the frontier of the Attican Traverse. Its vast seas and orbital position on the inner life zone have created a wide equatorial band of humid, tropical terrain. Only the political instability of the region has impeded efforts at colonization._

_Many times, the Citadel has opened negotiations to settle Virmire with the various criminal gangs and petty dictatorships in the nearby Terminus Systems. All fell apart due to internal power shifts within the opposing parties. The Citadel has written off the colonization of Virmire as impossible without significant political change._

_The Terminus powers themselves are unlikely to ever settle Virmire. Most lack the resources to support settlement of a virgin world, finding it more expedient to steal from their neighbors than build for themselves.-Codex_

As the Normandy is approaching Virmire, Joker picks up the signal from the Salarian STG team, and Kaiden notices the massive defense towers that surrounds Saren's base. Shepherd decides to go in by mako and take them out. Joker flies the Normandy Saren's radar and drops the Mako at low altitude. Once the Mako rolls to a stop, Joker comes over the radio.

"Commander, come in" Joker said.

Shepherd opened the comm. "Nice work Joker, stay out of range until I bring those AA tower down"

"Roger that, Commander" Joker said. The team looked around the planet; Virmire was definitely a picture of a paradise. If it wasn't for the fact Saren and his geth was here it was be the perfect vacation spot, provided you could avoid the pirates that something use the planet a base. Shepherd looked back at Tali and Garrus, it seemed they had the same thought too.

"Keelah, this planet is beautiful" Tali said in awe.

"Too bad it's so close to the Terminus system, it could be one for those gem worlds, like Illum" Garrus said.

Shepherd chuckled and shook his head. "Come on, we can sightsee later, now we have AA gun to destroy" Tali and Garrus nodded, and the team gets in the mako. They head off starting the mission, Shepherd was careful when approaching the rocks so the mako wouldn't fall into the water, the tank was great a climbing mountains, in water it would sink like a stone. Around the second corner, and they encounter some Geth Rocket Drones and Geth Assault Drones. Garrus readies the mako's guns and fired, but the turian actually found it harder to take them out due to them moving around so much, but after getting their flight patterns down, they were taken down fast.

They went ahead on the right are some Geth Rocket Troopers, surrounded by more drones and a Geth juggernaut fired wildly at the mako. It took all of Shepherd's crazy maneuvering to keep from being hit, Garrus took down the troopers and Juggernauts first since they were the easiest, and then switched to the machine guns to blast the drones out of the sky. Halfway down the next stretch the mako was shook hard and then again. "What was that?"

"I don't know the radar is jammed" Tali said.

"Shit, Garrus anything you see, shoot at it" Shepherd said.

"Got Boss" Without the radar the mako was ridng blind, possibly into an enemy trap, Garrus did what he told and shot at anything he could see. With several blasts of the tanks machine gun, the turian was able to take down rocket drones. The mako was hit again, this time from the troopers, Garrus fired on them only for it to be block with a hexagonal energy field.

"Garrus switch to the main gun!" Tali said. "Their shield won't be able to take it" Garuus switched guns and fired, the shields broke and the geth went flying and they moved along. They got close to the first gatehouse the team start to come under fire from the geth guarding it, the group consists of Geth Snipers, Rocket Troopers, Troopers, and Shock Troopers. Shepherd drove the mako back dodging the fire while Garrus fired the main gun. The snipers and troopers were taken but the rocket troopers were in deep, Shepherd drove up and the team exited the mako and took them down. Tali went down to the edge of the gate house, where she found the first console; with a few presses the first AA gun was disabled.

"Done" Tali said.

"One down one to go" Shepherd said. The team went back to the mako, the next trek was more difficult this time, and the canyons were infested by geth armatures and colossi, evenutlly they made it to the next gate house where disabled the second AA guns. As the mako drove past the last gate house, the Normandy could be seen en route to the salarian camp. The comm opened.

"Commander, Normandy's touched down, but there's a problem" Joker said.

"What is it?" Shepherd asked.

"The salarian captain can explain went you get there" Joker said.

Shepherd sighed. "Roger that" When the mako finally reach the camp, thy got out to see Ashley and Kaiden are arguing with the salarian captain. Shepherd went to check it out. "Hey what's up?"

Kaiden looked at him. "We're grounded"

"Yeah I got that much from Joker, but why?" Shepherd asked. "What's the situation?"

"Of course, I'm Captain Kirrahe, 3rd infiltration regiment of the STG" the captain said. "You and your crew have landed in the middle of a hot zone, every AA gun within ten miles have been alerted of your presence"

"What are we supposed to do in the meantime?"

"We stay put until the council sends the reinforcements we requested" Kirrahe said.

The team looked at each other sheepishly and then at Kirrahe who had a confused look on his face. "Um…We are the reinforcments…"


	52. Chapter 43b: Virmire pt2

**Chapter 43b: Virmire pt2**

The team watched as captain Kirrahe paced back and forth cursing in what had got to be the salarian language. Shepherd couldn't blame him; he and his team spent all that time hoping for the Calvary to arrive only to find out it was them. Shepherd had explained that his message was broken up, and the council sent him to investigate, but that only made the salarian worried. Shepherd shared his concern with one ship, its ground team, and a weakened salarian team against Saren's geth army; it was going to be a mess. "One ship? They sent one ship for something as big as this?"

Shepherd raised a brow. "Big? What are you talking about?"

"Saren's operation base, he's set up a research facility here, but it's crawling with geth and heavily fortified" Kirrahe said. "I lost half my men to that place, which was why I hoping the council sent a fleet"

"Is Saren here, have you seen him?" Kaiden asked.

Kirrahe shook his head. "No, but we've intercepted some comms referring to him, so he may come"

"What's he doing?" Shepherd asked seriously.

"He's using the facility to breed an army of krogan" the captain said. That caught Wrex's ear, he came over to the group the salarians looked very nervous seeing Wrex. After the krogan had never forgiven them creating the plague in the first place.

"How is that possible?" he asked.

"Apparently, Saren has discovered a cure for the genophage." Kirrahe said unfazed by the battlemaster in front of him. The team's eyes went wide; a cure for the genophage would mean the restart of Krogan Rebellons, the galaxy barely won against them the first time, and without another strain the galaxy would burn this time around. Especially the krogan's biggest enemies the turians and the salarians. "His geth are already bad enough, but an endless supply of krogan, loyal to Saren would make him almost invincible. This base and all of its secrets must be destroyed."

Wrex frowned. "Destroyed? I don't think so," he said "My people are dying because your damn plague. This cure can save them."

"I know how you feel, but…" Kirrahe started.

Wrex got into Kirrahe's face growling, the salarians were close to raising their weapon, the tension was getting thick. "You know nothing, pijack, you haven't seen the children that never had a chance. So don't you dare patronize me!" Wrex turned away, fuming, the salarians quickly got out of his way. Kirrahe spoke up.

"Is he going to be a problem? We already have enough angry krogan to deal with."

Shepherd frowned. "Can you blame him?" He asked. "Sterilizing someone's whole race would piss anyone off"

"It was the only way, Commander, for our sakes and theirs" Kirrahe said. "Anyway, my men and I need to rethink our plan; can you give us some time?" Shepherd nodded and Kirrahe left, leaving him with Kaiden and Ash. Shepherd knew what they were thinking about, Wrex.

"Things are a bit of a mess…" Kaiden said.

"No kidding and a pissed off Wrex is not helping things" Ash said.

"I'll go talk to him, straighten things out" Shepherd said.

"Want us to come?" She asked.

Shepherd shook his head "No reinforcements will only make him think we don't trust him, I'll do this alone, man to man" Kaiden and Ash looked at each other worriedly. "I'll be fine, if I could talk him down on the rachni queen, I can talk him down on this" Shepherd went over and talked to Wrex, he had calmed down a little, but the spectre was careful when approaching him. He then heard the krogan shooting the sea with his shotgun, Shepherd checked if he had a weapon for when thing went to hell, and he hoped he wouldn't have to use it.

"This isn't right, Shepherd. If there's a cure for the genophage, we can't destroy it." He said.

"I know this means a lot, but…" Shepherd said.

"But nothing, this is the fate of my entire people we're talking about!" Wrex said angrily. "Those pijacks are only worried about themselves; it was the same way when they created the genophage!"

"Easy Wrex…just think for a moment, we're not even sure if it's a true cure, Saren could playing your people for suckers, you know how much of a manipulative bastard he is"

"That's a chance we should be willing to take!" Wrex said. "I've been loyal to you so far, when you told me to shoot, I shot, you told me to kill, I killed, I even went along with you releasing a damn queen, and all that time I asked for nothing in return."

"This time I'm asking you for this one thing, help me save my people" Shepherd looked at him with surprise; the krogan was almost pleading for this cure. All he said was true, of everyone on the team, Wrex had no reason to stay with the Normandy crew, even when he got back his family armor he could have left any time he wanted, but stayed for them. Could he really spit his face, despite all the things he done for him and crew?

Shepherd sighed. "Your right, I do owe you for staying with me this long, if we find the cure, you'll have it" he said. "Hell it's probably in better hands with you, but let's focus on making sure Saren doesn't have it first"

Wrex nodded satisfied with his answer. "Right" Shepherd turned around and Wrex spoke up. "I don't say this often…but thank you" Shepherd nodded back, and walked back to Kaiden and Ash.

"Nice work with Wrex, though I'm surprised that he agreed to have the genophage destroyed so quickly" Kaiden said. Shepherd rubbed his head sheepishly, Kaiden's eyes went wide. "You didn't…"

"I promised Wrex that if there was a cure I would get it for him" Shepherd said.

"What?!" Ashley asked. "If the Council hears of that they'll strip you of your Spectre status"

"Shh, not so loud! I know, but I figure with Wrex being a battlemaster, he'll have some pull with the krogan, you know put his people on the right path"

"But..."Ash said.

"I trust Wrex, he'll do the right thing"

Kaiden sighed. "You're really going ahead with this, aren't you?" he asked. Shepherd nodded. "Just be careful, okay?"

"Got it" Kirrahe walked up to the group he said that he has come up with a plan, sort of, and involves high risk and a lot of luck. The plan involved the salarians converting their ship's drive system into a twenty kiloton ordinance to destroy the facility. To do this he would divide his men into three teams, Aegohr, Mannovai, and Jaeto and hit the front of the facility while Shepherd and his team "Shadow" sneaks around back. He also asked Shepherd for a huge, difficult favor, he needs one of Shepherd's squad for the assault. Shepherd wasn't sure about loaning his people to people he just met, but this was too important let that thought get in the way.

"Take Ash, if you're going to be the decoy, you'll need firepower" Shepherd said.

Kirrahe nodded. "I will have the ordnance loaded on the Normandy and brief your crew on its detonation sequencing" he said.

"Alright, ready when you are" Shepherd said.

"Excellent, I'll prepare my men" Kirrahe said walking away leaving Shepherd with his team.

Ash sighed. "Well this is it"

"Hey don't say that, we'll make it through this and take out Saren together" Shepherd said.

Ash smiled. "Right, don't do anything stupid while I'm gone, okay?"

"Alright, only if you promise to do the same" Kirrahe came out with his men who were standing at attention, he turned to his men. Shepherd couldn't help but admire them, a lot of them were not going to come back, but they were going to go into the lion's den anyway. Bravery in the face adversity, this was what being a soldier was all about.

"You all know the mission, and what is at stake.

I have come to trust you all with my life - but I have also heard murmurs of discontent. I share your concerns.

We are trained for espionage; we would be legends, but the records are sealed. Glory in battle is not our way.

Think of our heroes; the Silent Step, who defeated a nation with a single shot. Or the Ever Alert, who kept armies at bay with hidden facts.

These giants do not seem to give us solace here, but they are not all that we are.

Before the network, there was the fleet. Before diplomacy, there were soldiers!

Our influence stopped the rachni, but before that we held the line!

Our influence stopped the krogan, but before that, we held the line!

Our influence will stop Saren; in the battle today, we will hold the line!"

The salarians gave a great cheer. _'Not bad'_ Shepherd thought with a smirk. "Commander, good luck, I hope to fight alongside you in the future." Kirrahe said as he held out his hand.

Shepherd shook it. "Me too"

_**The mission begins... REVIEW AND COMMENT**_


	53. Chapter 43c: Virmire pt3

**Chapter 43c: Virmire pt3**

Shepherd and team jump down behind a wall and surveyed the area. There were no enemies, for now. For the Shadow team assault, he brought Tali due the geth being entrenched with the base, and Wrex for krogan and bigger targets, plus he had promised the krogan the cure when they had gotten to the lab. Shepherd opened his comm. "Shadow team in position" Shepherd said.

"Understood, we'll start our push. We'll try to make it to the AA gun, but it might be up to you to finish the job" Kirrahe said. "Also there are some satellite uplinks up ahead, if you can take out that would be appreciated."

"Got it" Shepherd said. They head forward and in the distance, they could see a watchtower of sorts. Kirrahe was not kidding when he said this was big.

"Keelah, how did Saren manage this for so long without anyone knowing?" Tali asked in awe.

"Deceit, money, and lots of guns" Wrex said. They head towards the tower and went into cover, as Geth Troopers, Geth Rocket Troopers, and Geth Shock Troopers will greet them with a hail of gunfire. Tali hacked the rocket trooper in the front, and rocket trooper turned its attention to the troopers and shock troopers and the three geth turned on each other. Shepherd blasted the shock troopers head off with his pistol. Wrex went out of cover and rammed the rocket trooper just before its program came back to normal and ripped its head off with his bare hands. The trooper fired at the krogan, causing Wrex to create a barrier to protect himself. Shepherd overloaded the troopers shields and Tali sabotaged the geth's weapon causing him to be destroyed.

When the geth were no more the team moved up the ramp, and saw console protected by geth snipers and destroyers. Wrex played decoy and charge the nearest geth, the snipers targeted the krogan, but was shot by the now hacked destroyer, and more geth came in as reinforcements, but was thrown by Wrex's throw field. Tali sabotaged the troopers wiping out their numbers. "Rookie, you're up" The quarian nodded and disable the geth's communications and triangulation frequencies.

"_Something's scrambled their targeting systems, we got a shot! Chief Williams, take the heat off Mannovai!"_

The team went straight northwards at the next junction. Forming a single file, they advanced closely along a cliff, until they meet with a swarm of rocket drones firing at the team. Shepherd used his singularity to disrupt the drones flying, making them smash into each other and the rocky walls. They moved out of the canyon, and into the next watchtower, they encounter more rocket drones and a Geth Destroyer that just loved to get in their face mostly Shepherd's. To make matters worse they were reinforced by krogan, who couldn't resist attacking Wrex. The team was separated by their enemies, the krogans made a swipe at Wrex who dodged and blew them back with a throw field.

Wrex scoffed. "Whelps" Meanwhile the destroyer was taking down all the cover he could find, and when the spectre was out of cover the geth would charge and Shepherd would dodger, but he couldn't do it forever.

"Rookie, anytime you're ready…you know, no hurry" Shepherd said. Tali looked back him, and hacked one of the rocket drones to ram into the destroyer, stunning it while Shepherd gunned it down. Shepherd then smashed the rest of the drones with a throw field.

"_They're calling sat-strikes! Jaeto, watch for comm stations!" _

"That sounded bad. Really bad." Shepherd said.

"Combined air and satellite strikes," Tali said. "For the geth to get this aggressive... They must be getting worried." Tali looked around the compound and saw a structure on the roof.

"Rookie?" Tali raised her weapon and shot the structure, she walked back to Shepherd and Wrex.

"There, Kirrahe and Ash shouldn't have any problems with the satellite strikes" Tali said. "Well come on" They headed up the ramp and headed south. Once on the platform two krogans popped out and wasted no time attacking the team. Joining them were geth troopers and a destroyer. Because there was little cover, they had to get them off-balance and gun them down. Shepherd used his throw field to stop a charging krogan. Wrex had the other krogan in a charging match, while Tali dealt with geth, she hacked the destroyer who then charged at the geth closest to it. Wrex tired of the young krogan, lifted him off the ground.

"Shepherd!" Wrex said. Shepherd nodded and rolled out the way when Wrex through the krogan, knocking them both on the ground. Before they could react, Shepherd and Wrex mowed them down. The team crossed the bridge and entered the small door leading through the wall, and crossed a metal plank leading to the entrance of the central facility building.

"Finally" Shepherd said exhausted. "We've finally reached this damn building." Tali went to the terminal and called for Shepherd. "What's up, rookie?"

"I've got access to base security. I can cut the alarms from here, and maybe even trigger alarms on the far side of the base" Tali explained. "It'll clear the guards, but they may be too much for the salarians and Ash"

"Just silence the alarms, we'll handle any guards inside" Shepherd said.

Wrex smashed his fists together. "Nice, a fight to the cure" Wrex said. "Wouldn't have any other way"

Tali scoffed. "Glad to see you're so happy about difficult odds" Tali said annoyed. She typed into the terminal and the door opened.

Shepherd nodded. "Good, let's clean this place out." The door opened, and the team rushed in, entering a cargo bay. Huge crates were positioned inside it and the team advanced from cover to cover, flanking any enemy they encounter. Since most of the enemies in the base were geth tech support by Tali was a godsend.

"That's all of them Shepherd" Wrex said. As they walked through the base they saw many disturbing things, it was more of a prison camp than a base. They heard the screams of torture, and the team went downstairs and found the source of those scream. Salarians, Kirrahe's lost men.

"Y…You, you're not geth, and you're not wearing a lab coat either, who are you?"

"Shepherd, council spectre, I'm here with Captain Kirrahe to shut this place down" he said. The salarian's eyes lit up when he said that, the commando must have been through terrible things in this lab, because he offered to help.

"My name is Lt. Ganto Imness, I was captured during recon, I would be happy to help take down this damn nightmare"

"What do they do here?" Tali asked.

"My team was altered, indoctrinated" Imness said. "Captain knew about the breed facility, but this place holds much darker secrets, indoctrination tests" The salarian shuttered. "I saw good people reduced to mindless husks, the people who died during the test, I envy them" Shepherd looked at the other salarian prisoners; they looked like they were in a daze, just lost.

Shepherd frowned. "Why should we free you? If they were altered, you could be too"

Imness shook his head. "I was left as a control subject, so I was left with my senses, even though I almost wish I didn't" he said. "Saren uses the test to control his people…I…I just saw how it turned the others…I…I can't end up like this please let me out" Shepherd was getting creepy vibes from the salarian, his once calm breathing was becoming more and more irregular. Wrex and Tali must have the same vibe too, as they were shaking their heads at letting the salarian go.

"If I let you out, how will I know you won't attack me?" Shepherd asked. "Because something tells me you wouldn't know"

"Please it's obvious I'm not crazed or drooling like the others, let me out and I'll stay out of your way promise" he said franticly. "I need to get out, this room is too small, it keeps talking, I really want get out and get some work done, I need to get out!"

"I…I'm sorry, but it's too risky, I can't take that chance" Shepherd said. He faced his team. "Come on, we have a base to destroy…" Wrex and Tali nodded and the team walked away.

"Can't take that chance, no chance…I need to do what it says, I have to..." Imness said franticly. "Let me out. Let me out! LET ME OUT!" The salarian ran to the cell door and banged on the door screaming incoherently.

"LETMEOUT!LETMEOUT!LETMEOUT!LETMEOUT!" he screamed still banging on the door. Tali covered her ears trying to block out the sound of the salarian, although Shepherd was right to leave the salarian in his prison, it didn't make it any easier. She looked at Shepherd, he looked disturbed at his decision, and even the old battlemaster looked concerned. She looked back at the cell.

"Keelah…"

"Don't look back, Rookie, don't look back…." Shepherd said sadly. The team went deeper into the base.

_**REVIEW AND COMMENT**_


	54. Chapter 43d: Virmire pt4

**Chapter 43d: Virmire pt4**

As the team continued on to the center of the base, they did not encounter any further enemy resistance, but on the other hand their exploration of the place only turned up dead ends. Saren's base was truly a maze, possibly to make it easier to capture unwanted intruders for their indoctrination tests, or recapture escaped prisoners for more tests. They had to walk back lots of times to find a route with no dead ends; the team turned a corner and found an elevator. Going down the elevator, they could hear radio chatter of the Salarians and Ash fighting, things were getting more intense, sooner or later the geth would figure out the real threats.

"I hope they're okay" Tali said concerned.

"They'll be fine, Ash is with them, she's a capable soldier" Shepherd reassured her, although he was getting worried about them also. The elevator stopped and the team got out of what looked like a lab area. The entire team had their weapons ready, for when they would meet a nasty surprise. They moved slowly examining the weird machines that littered the area. They then stopped at one particular machine, they're eyes wide.

"Is that…?" Tali asked.

Wrex came near the machine. "Yeah, krogan" All the machines held krogan, this area was the breeding center for the krogans. Shepherd nodded to Tali, who then went over to the consoles to look for the cure and delete Saren's copy. Shepherd looked at Wrex staring at the krogans. "It's strange…to think I was this close to giving up on my people only for a cure to be staring me in the face"

"What will the krogan do once they have the cure?" Shepherd asked seriously.

"Probably look for payback…but don't worry I won't let that happen" Wrex said. "Once this whole mess with Saren is done, I'll go back to Tuchanka and make sure my people don't do any stupid"

Shepherd looked at Wrex. "Wrex…"

Wrex snorted. "Don't get all mushy on me, kid, I'm only doing this because I owe you and krogan repays their debts" he said. "Plus, I don't want another rebellion to happen"

Shepherd smiled. "But still thanks" Wrex grunted and they made their way over to Tali, was close to done looking at the files. Her eyes went wide.

"Keelah, t…that can't be right…" Tali gasped.

"What is it, Rookie?" Shepherd asked.

Tali took a deep breath, what she found was almost too awful to talk about, but she took the time to gather her thoughts for the bad news. "I looked up data on the krogans being kept here; all of them had the genophage"

"So? They may not been cured yet" Wrex said.

Tali shook her head. "It's not just that, I did a DNA scan on all the Krogan, they're all…" she lowered her head. "…have the same DNA, exactly the same…"

Wrex looked at her blankly. "They're clones?" he whispered.

"I'm sorry, Wrex" Tali said sadly. After so many centuries of living with the genophage he truly thought his people were going to be free. That the krogan was going to have their dignity again, but this revelation was a slap in the face to him and his people. A low growl escaped his mouth and his fist shook and in roar of rage smashed the console. Then he took out his shotgun and shot every container that held the krogan clones as Shepherd and Tali stepped back and let him vent. In the end, the lab was a mess of ruined machinery, bullet filled holes, and walls and floors that was painted with the orange blood of krogan clones everywhere, it almost too much for the human and quarian to see, but they understood. After a while of letting his frustration and anger out he finally calmed down and looked at Shepherd, his eyes intense.

"Shepherd, that bastard took my people's hope and twisted into a sick joke" Wrex said angrily. "I want his head"

Shepherd nodded. "Then you'll get it" The door then opened revealing a krogan in a white lab coat and an asari, they looked around the room eyes wide at the carnage in the room. The krogan glared at the team, his eyes full of hate.

"You fools, have you any idea what have done?! You've ruined the future of the krogan people!"

Wrex growled and pointed his shotgun. "And you've disgraced the krogan people!" he said charging the krogan in white. The asari pressed a button, and a container was revealed from above, filled to the brim with husks. The door opened and the husks came out rushed the team, Shepherd and Tali took out their shotguns and started blasting the techno zombies. One of the husks dodged the bullet and came up to Shepherd glowing blue, a wave of electricity flowed from its body and suddenly the shotgun became too hot to hold.

"Shit!" Shepherd said dropping his shotgun. The husk then took the chance to swipe the spectre hard in face.

"Wayne!" Tali ran over and rammed the husk to the ground and blasted the husk point-blank. Meanwhile Wrex and the lab krogan had a battle of strength, but the battlemaster then glowed blue and overtook the lab krogan. He then slammed him to the ground and raised his shotgun.

The krogan growled. "You've killed our people!"

Wrex silently pulled the trigger. "No I saved them from being pawn once more…" Tali used some medi-gel to patch up Shepherd's face, the spectre flinched a little as the gel touched his skin. When Shepherd was ready the team went on to the next area, just in time too, things was getting bad for the salarians and Ash. The team made it to the interior of the base, only drones stood in their way, which was not the problem for Tali. Inside an office like building they met an asari named Rana Thanoptis, a scientist that is in a more permanent position than she would have wanted. She gave information on purpose of the base, to test the effects of indoctrination, mind control, much to the horror of the team. She asked if she could leave, but the Spectre was having none of it, as he raised his weapon. The asari's eyes went wide, as she begged for her life.

"You bitch" Shepherd growled as he pulled the trigger. The asari fell dead.

"This base is an abomination," Tali said in disgust. "Saren's research must be destroyed."

"Damn right" Wrex said. The team took the elevator to Saren's lab and at the bottom is another beacon, very much intact like the one on Eden Prime.

"Stand back" Shepherd ordered. As Shepherd got close to the beacon, the beacon glowed and lifted Shepherd.

"Wayne!" Tali said in horror. She tried to get to Shepherd, but was held back by Wrex. The beacon transmitted the full vision into Shepherd's brain, he could understand it all, the screams, the slaughter, the machines, and more importantly the way to Illos, a way to stop this vision from coming to past. The beacon dropped Shepherd, and Tali ran up to Shepherd and helped him up. "Are you okay?" she asked concerned.

Shepherd looked at her and smiled. "Better than okay, we have hope" he said. Tali tilted her head in confusion.

**"THERE IS NO HOPE"** The team turned around as black and red crack started to appear in the beacon, glowing a dark bloody crimson Shepherd found himself sweating, not from the heat, but from fear, it was different from the fear he faced during battle, this was much more intense, much more primal, like the fear of being alone, or of the dark.

"What is this?" Tali asked as she gripped Shepherd's arm tightly. Shepherd looked back at Wrex, even the deadly krogan battlemaster was shaking in his boots from the voice. The chamber reverberated as the glow of the cracks intensified...projecting a picture of a ship.

"**YOU ARE NOT SAREN**..." the voice boomed. "**PATHETIC CREATURES OF FLESH AND BLOOD, YOU DARE TOUCH MY MIND" **The voice of the ship, made it hard to breathe, it was like a dagger stabbing his soul, just being with the projection made him sick, it was quite possibly the most disgusting thing he had ever heard.

"A VI?" Wrex asked.

"No worse" Shepherd growled. "It's a reaper, Sovereign"

"**OUR TITLE IS IRRELEVANT, ALL WILL END. THE CYCLE CANNOT BE STOPPED**" it said.

"What cycle?" Shepherd asked.

"**THE CYCLE BEGAN BEFORE YOU AND IT CONTINUE AFTER YOU.**"

"Why? For what purpose? Shepherd asked.

"**OUR REASON IS BEYOND YOUR COMPREHENSION. IN THE END IT WILL NOT MATTER**"

Shepherd gritted his teeth, he felt hated for the creature standing in front of him, he want end its perverted existence, and what scared him the most, he did not fully understand it "You're just one machine..." he hissed. "Machines can be broken!"

"**I AM A NATION, UNITED AND FREE OF ALL PATHETIC WEAKNESSES OF ORGANICS, AND SOON WE WILL DARKEN THE SKIES**" The voice boomed. "**ORGANIC LIFE IS AN ABOMINATION**" Its voice was full of scorn and wrath. "**YOU ARE FRAGILE, YOU BEGIN AND YOU END WITHOUT PURPOSE"**

Shepherd glowed a brilliant blue. "We will stop you." He growled as he pointed at the projection. "And you will die"

"**CONFIDENCE BORN OF IGNORANCE, YOU EXIST BECAUSE WE ALLOW IT AND YOU WILL END BECAUSE WE DEMAND IT**" The hologram throbbed, the cracks in the beacon widening. "**THE MASS RELAYS, THE CITADEL, YOU DEFENSES WILL FALL**"

"Why would you make them only so we could find them...?" Tali asked.

"**ORGANIC LIFE IS UNPREDICTABLE LIKE A DISEASE; WE ENLIGHTENED YOUR KIND TO FOLLOW THE PATH WE DESIRE**" There was a crack as a part of the beacon fell off. "**YOUR EVERY ADVANCEMENT, EVERY SETTLEMENT, WE HAVE GUIDED YOU HERE**"

The quarian's eyes went wide. "Keelah, y-you've set the entire galactic civilization up to be destroyed...you know every move before we make it…" Tali said in shocked horror.

**"YOU CANNOT RESIST**" A crack, a long part of the beacon falling to the floor with a crash. "**THERE IS NO HOPE, WHILE YOU WERE EVOLVING A FROM YOUR PRIMITIVE FORMS, AND WHEN YOU CEASE TO EXIST TO BE FORGOTTEN BY THE COSMOS, WE WILL ENDURE**"

"You won't win! We're not your puppets!" Shepherd yelled. "And the galaxy, will be ready to strike you down!"

"**YOUR WORDS ARE AS EMPTY AS YOUR FUTURE, I AM THE VANGUARD OF YOUR DESTRUCTION AND THIS EXCHANGE IS FINISHED**." A flash of crimson light...and the beacon shattered, all that was left was a smoking stump.

Shepherd calmed down as the com opened, it was Joker. "What is it, Joker?"

"Sir, We getting a huge reading from here, and its coming fast!" Joker said panicked

Shepherd eyes went wide. "Got ya" he looked back to his team. "We need to get hell out of here, now!" Wrex and Tali nodded and ran out with Shepherd. It was time to blow this base to hell.

_**The enemy revealed…REVIEW AND COMMENT**_


	55. Chapter43e: Virmire pt5

**Chapter 43e: Virmire pt5**

"Finally" Shepherd said. After a tiresome marathon of fighting geth, and krogan, the team had finally managed to reach the center of Saren's base. The team hears large rumbling sound and sees the Normandy swooping in. Kaiden, the rest of the ground team, and members of the Normandy crew walks down the ramp with the salarian drive core that has been converted into a nuclear bomb and is place near the geothermal taps that power the base, and its one weak point. After everything is set up, Kaiden walked to Shepherd and team.

"Bombs already to go, Wayne" Kaiden said.

"Good we just need to get Ash and the STG and say good-bye to this kongkeku base" Tali said. Shepherd nodded and opened the comm to contact the distraction team; sounds of battle could be heard.

"Ash?" Shepherd asked. "The nuke is almost ready, get to the rendezvous point!" There was static for a minute, and the team looked on worried about their comrade. "Ash!"

"Negative, Skipper," Ash said "The geth have us pinned down at the AA tower. We're taking heavy casualties. Captain Kirrahe is dead!" More guns could be heard, and this time sounds of screaming. "We'll never make it to the rendezvous point!"

"Shit!" Shepherd said opening his comm. "Joker, get them out of there, now!"

"Negative, it's too hot! You can't risk it, we'll try to hold them off…" There was a break in the com.

"It's okay Wayne, I need a couple of minutes to arm the nuke, go get them" Kaiden said.

"You sure?" Shepherd asked.

"Don't worry, we got this boss" Garrus said with a smirk. "You just get Ash out there"

Shepherd nodded. "Wrex and Tali, move out" he ordered. The team headed to the door to the right, only to be led to yet another fight. In this trench were three krogan, and a few Geth Hoppers.

"Damn fakes" Wrex roared as mowed the first one down. The hoppers bounced between the walls and floors, like a life-size pinball making it hard for Shepherd and Tali to get a bead on the geth. Meanwhile, the battlemaster rammed one of the krogan clones against the wall, pummeling it, another clone tried to charge Wrex from behind. But the old veteran could see it coming a mile away and dodged, making it smash into its fellow clone. Wrex took his shotgun and killed them both at the same time.

"Fucking geth, we don't have time for this!" Shepherd used his singularity field, catching the two hoppers. Shepherd then threw a grenade up to the field. "Rookie!" Tali raised her pistol and fired on the grenade, destroying the hoppers. The team made it to the elevator, and continued to the AA guns. The team then heard something large overhead.

"Oh Keelah…" Tali gasped. A Geth Dropship flies overhead.

"Damn, the geth are sending reinforcements" Wrex said. "And they're heading for the bomb site!" Shepherd opens his comm.

"Kaiden, dropship heading your way, be ready!" Shepherd said.

"Got it, Wayne, taking up defensive positions," Kaiden replied. The team could hear a loud roar from the comm. "Shit, it's here. It's starting to drop geth all over the place, Liara lock them down, Garrus sniper support, protect our crew!" The sound of gun fire then could be heard.

"Can you hold them?" Shepherd asked.

"No, the ship is still dropping enemy reinforcements. There's just too many of them." He sounded eerily calm, Shepherd swallowed hard, he had always known his best friend to be a cool customer, but the way he talked chilled him the bone. "I'm setting the nuke."

Shepherd frowned. "Dammit, Kaiden, that's not your call to make!" Shepherd said.

"I know I'm sorry, but mission comes first you know that" he said sadly. "It's done, go get Ash, and get the hell out of here" The com then opened up.

"Fuck that! We can handle ourselves. Go back and get the Lieutenant!" Ash said.

"Damn it!" Shepherd cursed. This was not what he wanted. Both were insistent for him to go and save the other one. He wished he could save both, but there was no time to save both, he now had to make a choice, a choice between friends, the hardest choice in his life. Kaiden or Ashley, one would live and the other would die when the bomb goes off. Shepherd took a deep breath "Kaiden, stand by, we're coming to your position"

"But, Wayne…" Kaiden started.

"Damn it Kaiden, don't make this decision any harder, please…" Shepherd said weakly.

"I…I understand" Kaiden said.

"Ash, I…I'm so…" Shepherd sadly.

"Don't, I don't regret any thing" she said. "I know you'll catch Saren" Ash went silent as the battle on her front continued to rage. "Be good to her, Skipper, big sister's watching"

"Got ya" he choked.

"Ash…" Tali said in tears.

"Take care of him; someone needs to make sure he doesn't get himself killed." Ash said half-jokingly.

"I will, Keelah Sa'lai" Tali said. The com closed.

Shepherd slammed his fists on the rail. "GODDAMMIT!" He was angry at Ash's self-sacrifice, angry at the geth for having forced it, angry at Saren who led the geth. But now most of all he was angry at himself for having to make that choice. He felt his eyes hot and stinging, as his tears started drip to the ground.

"Get a hold of yourself, Shepherd!" Wrex said. Shepherd and Tali looked at him. "You think Williams want to see you like this, you're our leader, and you have to make sure her sacrifice is worth it and that means making Saren pay" Shepherd nodded and wiped his eyes, Wrex was right, they had a mission to do, he could shed his tears later.

Shepherd took a deep breath to compose himself. "Back to the bomb site" Shepherd ordered. Meanwhile, Kaiden, Liara, and Garrus were trying to hold off the geth from destroying the bomb, but were losing ground quickly. The geth approached the team, only to be blown back by a strong biotic force. Kaiden looked his right, and saw Shepherd, Tali, and Wrex.

"You're a sight for sore eyes, Wayne" Kaiden said.

Shepherd nodded and glowed blue. "Garrus, sniper support, Liara and Kaiden you're on biotics with me, Tali hack those geth, Wrex, up front you're the spear tip, Got it?" Shepherd barked. A chorus of 'aye-ayes' answered him. The team went into action as Wrex charged the Prime closest to him, with Garrus giving sniper support and Tali hacking the troopers to aid the krogan. Shepherd and Liara created a large singularity to lift the hoppers, the shock troopers, and the destroyer of the ground, Kaiden then shut them all down with warp field. More geth started to land, to reinforce their fallen, but Shepherd would not have that. Shepherd for a fuel tank near them and let it explode, destroying all near-by platforms, as smoke rose in the battlefield. The team gathers together, only for suddenly a rapid succession of biotic bursts came through the smoke, out of the sky, scattering the team into cover.

Shepherd looked out of cover, and sees a figure descending from the smoke, it was Saren. The spectre was now facing his prey, and the greatest threat to the galaxy in history. The turian jumps down, and Shepherd get out of cover and points his pistol at the traitor. Shepherd let loose a couple of shots, but Saren just walked over, like nothing happened, his shields were strong, probably a gift from his masters. "I applaud you, Shepherd. My geth were utterly convinced the salarians were the real threat." Saren said. "Impressive tactic, for an ape"

"However, it doesn't matter: I can't let you disrupt what I have accomplished here. You can't possibly understand what's at stake here."

"Spare me your bullshit!" Shepherd growled. "I don't need a speech to know you sold us out!"

"Little fool, you've seen the visions, the reaper are beyond anything we have ever seen, they cannot be stopped" Saren said. "The Protheans tried to fight, and look what happened, all that is left of them are ruins"

Saren shook his head. "A waste of a good species, but if they had bowed to them they would still exist" he said.

"Fuck that! I'm no one's slave!" Shepherd said.

"You see, this is why we organics will lose, we are ruled by emotions, we would rather fight even when we can't win" Saren said. "But if we joined, think how many people would be spared, so I joined Sovereign to secure out future."

"There is no future in servitude" Shepherd said. "I know that from my experience on Mindoir, once they're done, they'll discard you like a broken tool…You say saving us, but you're just a coward who refuses to fight, you gave up, but I won't" Shepherd charges the turian and fires off a throw field, but Saren just waves it away like it was nothing. Soon the rest of the team fired on Saren, surprised by the aggressiveness of the team he got on his hoverboard and took to the skies. Saren glowed blue sending out barrages of biotic fields making the team scatter. Tali and Kaiden used their sabotage to make the ex-spectre's board go out of control. Liara, Wrex, and Shepherd fired warp field after warp field to weaken Saren, while Garrus waited for the right moment to take him down. When the board was slowing down, Garrus made his move and fired on the turian making him fall to the ground.

The turian recovered from his fall and growled. "Damn you human!" The ground team fired on Saren, but his still active hoverboard fired at the team, causing them to get pinned down in cover. Shepherd rushed forward and landed a huge biotic punch to the turian's face, and kept punching, but nothing seemed to faze the turian. He gave another punch, but it was grabbed and Shepherd was tossed like a rag doll against the wall hard. Shepherd shook his head and got up, but felt a huge blow to his stomach, then his face , and then to his chest each blow felt like being hit by a car. He then his throat close up as he felt himself being lifted off the ground as he felt a sharp pain from his back. He was being slammed against the wall again and again, so hard it was cracking the concrete, the turian's strength was ungodly. Shepherd's vision was blurring and growing dark, but then all of a sudden he was released as a blurry figure came up and fired at him, it was Tali, a very angry Tali.

"Get away from him, Bosh'tet!" Tali growled as she kept firing.

"Rookie stay back!" Shepherd said. With each attack, Saren's biotic barrier flashed, absorbing the damage. Despite the unrelenting barrage from Tali, Saren just cracked his neck and extended his arm forward, launching a biotic throw towards her. It was strong, enough to push her down to the watery ground hard. "NO!" Saren approached the quarian and lifted her by the neck, Shepherd stood up, with pistol in hand. "Let her go, you bastard, LET HER GO!"

Saren's mandibles twitched in amusement. "So this suit rat is important to you…" he said. "Maybe I should kill her to make you realize your folly" His hand was tightening around the quaian's neck as Tali gasped for air, Shepherd's gun shook in his hand , he wanted to fire but he could accidentally hit Tali, but Saren was going to kill her. "You see, you see how powerless you are human, I have someone you care about, you want to fight but she will die if you do" he said. Shepherd growled. "You think this is bad, human? Reapers are doing this to our galaxy on the larger scale…" His words was interrupted by a huge biotic field hitting him in the back, making him let go of Tali. Shepherd took the distraction to charge Saren.

"SAREN!" Shepherd unleashed a right hook with all the power of his body behind it. Saren attempted to dodge it, but it came too fast and too hard; it struck the side of his head. The force of the impact caused Saren to stumbled backwards and collapse unto the shallow water flowing beneath their feet. The turian shook his head, almost losing it in a daze; this battle was lost no doubts about it, he called his board and escaped. Shepherd went to Tali, to check if she was okay, she blacked out from Saren choking her, but she was alive much to his relief.

"Wayne! The bomb!" Kaiden said. Shepherd called the Normandy to their location and the team got on with Shepherd carrying the unconscious Tali last on board. The Normandy then took off escaping the atmosphere. The only thing they could see as they flew away was the mushroom cloud produced by the bomb.

_**Kongkeku-Keelish for fucking.**_

_**Rest in Peace, Ash….Keelah Sa'lai REVIEW AND COMMENT.**_


	56. Chapter 44: Terra Firma

**Chapter 44: Terra Firma**

_"I'm setting the nuke."_

_Shepherd frowned. "Dammit, Kaiden, that's not your call to make!" Shepherd said._

_"I know I'm sorry, but mission comes first you know that" he said sadly. "It's done, go get Ash, and get the hell out of here" The com then opened up._

_"Fuck that! We can handle ourselves. Go back and get the Lieutenant!" Ash said._

_"Damn it!" Shepherd cursed. This was not what he wanted. Both were insistent for him to go and save the other one. He wished he could save both, but there was no time to save both, he now had to make a choice, a choice between friends, the hardest choice in his life. Kaiden or Ashley, one would live and the other would die when the bomb goes off. Shepherd took a deep breath "Kaiden, stand by, we're coming to your position"_

_"But, Wayne…" Kaiden started._

_"Damn it Kaiden, don't make this decision any harder, please…" Shepherd said weakly._

_"I…I understand" Kaiden said._

_"Ash, I…I'm so…" Shepherd sadly._

_"Don't, I don't regret any thing" she said. "I know you'll catch Saren" Ash went silent as the battle on her front continued to rage. "Be good to her, Skipper, big sister's watching"_

_"Got ya" he choked._

_"Ash…" Tali said in tears._

_"Take care of him; someone needs to make sure he doesn't get himself killed." Ash said half-jokingly._

_"I will, Keelah Sa'lai" Tali said. The com closed._

_"Get away from him, Bosh'tet!" Tali growled as she kept firing._

_"Rookie stay back!" Shepherd said. With each attack, Saren's biotic barrier flashed, absorbing the damage. Despite the unrelenting barrage from Tali, Saren just cracked his neck and extended his arm forward, launching a biotic throw towards her. It was strong, enough to push her down to the watery ground hard. "NO!" Saren approached the quarian and lifted her by the neck, the spectre eyes went wide as he saw Tali struggling to get out of his grip. Shepherd stood up, with pistol in hand. "Let her go, you bastard, LET HER GO!"_

_Saren's mandibles twitched in amusement. "So this suit rat is important to you…" he said. "Maybe I should kill her to make you realize your folly" His hand was tightening around the quaian's neck as Tali gasped for air, Shepherd's gun shook in his hand , he wanted to fire but he could accidentally hit Tali, but Saren was going to kill her. "You see, you see how powerless you are human, I have someone you care about, you want to fight but she will die if you do" he said._

Shepherd shot up from his chair, drenched in cold sweat, he looked around his surroundings, he was in the Normandy med-bay. On the one of the beds was Tali, recovering from being attacked by Saren. The mission was a success, but he felt hollow, Captain Kirrahe and his men were dead and more importantly Ash was dead, he just ordered a friend to her death. He took a look at Tali sleeping peacefully on the cot, and brushed her cheek gently. Not only that, he almost lost the most important person to him. The door opened and Doctor Chakwas came in.

"Hey doc"

"How long are you going to stay in here Commander?" She asked.

"Until Tali is fine" Shepherd said.

Chakwas shook her head. "You know she's in good hands with me, so why don't you tell me the real reason" she said. Shepherd didn't respond and Chakwas sighed. "It's not your fault, Commander"

"Yes it is, I made the decision, if I had only gotten there faster…" Chakwas came up to the Spectre and smack him upside the head. "Doc?!" Shepherd looked at the older doctor and she looked angry.

"How long do you intend to wallow in self-pity?" she asked angrily. "Ashley gave her life with no regrets, are you just going to dishonor her by hiding from the crew?" Shepherd lowered his head and Chakwas laid hand on his shoulder. "Look at me Commander, we don't blame you for the decision you made, and I wish to god we could turn back time, but all we can do is make sure her sacrifice was not in vain" The comm opened.

"Commander, you got a call from Captain Anderson, he says its urgent" Joker said.

"Got it" Shepherd said. He looked at Chakwas "You're right, I'm sorry for worrying everyone"

Chakwas smiled. "Don't worry, I think everyone will understand" Shepherd went to the comm room, on the way he saw the crew members bow their heads in respect, and understanding. He made it to the comm room.

"Shepherd" Anderson said. "I heard what happened to Williams…It's a damn shame she had to clear the Williams name like this…"

"Anderson, its okay…" Shepherd said. "So what the urgency?"

Anderson smirked. "The council has read your report; they're taking Saren seriously now. So they're assembling a joint-species fleet to deal with him and the geth." He shook his head. "About time"

"Reinforcements?" Shepherd asked, unbelieving. "Seriously?"

"You're to report at the Citadel as part of these efforts and for a debriefing, good luck son" he said. Anderson's image faded out. Shepherd sat back in a chair, and then smirked as he remembered what Chakwas said. Shepherd opened the comm.

"Joker, back to the Citadel" Shepherd asked. "We got a fleet to lead!"

"Hell yeah" Joker said. "Next stop: The Citadel."

After the Normandy had returned once again to the giant space station, they went on their way to the Citadel Tower. Kaiden and Tali agreed to come with him, as support, at first Shepherd was worried about Tali being out after her bout with Saren, but she ensured the spectre that she was fine.

"And you sure Rookie?" Shephers asked.

"I'm fine, Wayne, only a bruise on my neck" Shepherd frowned. "It will heal don't worry about it" Shepherd reluctantly nodded his head. As the team was walking through the presidium, they saw a large number of people standing around with a bunch of signs waving in the air. They were chanting something, and gathering the crowd. "I wonder what's going on" Tali said. She then looked at signs, they all had different statement, but they all had the same symbol, a planet on a shield with swords striking through it. "What's that symbol?"

Kaiden groaned and palmed his face. "Great…A Terra Firma rally…"he said annoyed. "Must be close to that time again…"

Tali looked at Kaiden and tilted her head. "Terra…Firma? What time?" she asked.

Shepherd frowned. "The Terra Firma party is a human political party who opposes humanity's growing integration into the galactic community." He said. "They always protest to mark Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the First Contact War."

Tali looked at Shepherd. "But why? Most races would do anything to be a member of the Council" she said. "Even some of my people"

"The party was created to preserve humanity's individuality" Kaiden said. "You see there was a fear that our culture might be diluted or lost after too much integration into alien cultures"

"But, that's ridiculous, the council has existed for centuries, and that's never happened to the over races" She said.

Shepherd scoffed. "Try telling…" He got interrupted by a person standing in front of the crowd that was walking to the team. The man was in a grey suit, with a matching grey hat. His face was light in color, with blue eyes and brownish-grey hair and beard that was well-groomed.

"Ah, Commander Shepherd, may I have a word with you?" he asked.

Shepherd rolled his eyes. "I'm busy" he said. He tries to walk off, but the man blocked his way, Shepherd would move the other way and the man would match his movement. Shepherd sighed. "What do you want?" The man's eyes lit up.

"I'm Charles Sarracino of the Terra Firma Party, with Armistice Day coming soon; we're making our voices heard by the alien appeasers on the Presidium."

Shepherd looked at the protesters and crossed his arms. "I see that, so what would a party of racists and xenophobes, want with me?"

Sarracino looked uncomfortable by Shepherd's bluntness and cleared his throat. "Yes, while some of our members do hold extreme views, most of us are just doing our part to stand up for humanity" he said.

Kaiden whispered to Tali. "He gets a few points in grace for that. At least he didn't freak out at Wayne's attitude."

"I would have welcomed it, myself, this bosh'tet is getting on my nerves already" Tali said annoyed.

Shepherd frowned. "So you're 'standing up for humanity' by protesting on the anniversary of the First Contact War."

Sarracino raised his chest up with pride. "Why of course, every year for 26 years, that war thought humanity that we should stand up for ourselves, after all no one else will"

"I thought the lesson was don't go opening uncharted relays" Kaiden said. "Besides, it was all a misunderstanding, nothing more, nothing less"

Sarracino frowned. "Yes, a misunderstanding that led to the siege of Shanxi, the first and only human colony under alien control" he said. "Terra Firma believes that humanity must 'stand firm' against alien influences - politically, culturally, and in the worst case militarily!"

"Nice slogan, but your people make a racial issue, kinda like the Ku Klux Klan did to people like me during the 20th century" Shepherd said.

Sarracino was taken aback at that statement. "With all due respect sir, we are nothing like those terrorists, we have extreme members but we would never resort to their methods"

"Trust me it's all based on cultural purism" Shepherd said. "And that shit has never worked well in human history"

"You want to be stand up for humanity? Then show humanity's best side, but not this" he said pointing to the protestors.

Sarracino scoffed. "Sounds like something that coward Williams would say"

The team glared at him. "General Williams was a hero. No supplies, cut off from Alliance Command, and turians threatening civilians. What he did saved lives." Kaiden said angrily.

"It was a disgrace!" Saracino growled losing his composure. "Williams shamed us, and if you ask me he got off easy" Shepherd grabbed his neck and raised the man in the air. The people stopped what they were doing and looked at the spectacle. The spectre gave a hard glare at the man.

"Listen to me, you fucking bastard, I served with General Williams' granddaughter, she was the bravest and most honorable solder I've ever met. She deserves better than having her family name dragged through the mud by the likes of you!" Shepherd growled.

Saracino eyes grew wide. "B-but..."

"If value your tongue, you won't ever disrespect a Williams again, do you understand?" he asked. Tali touched his arm.

"It's not worth it, Wayne." She said softly.

"You're right, sayang" Shepherd agreed, "His kind rarely is." He let go the man's neck and dropped him and started to walk away.

Saracino got off the ground and coughed. He glared at Shepherd. "Humph. You still know what color your blood is, Shepherd?" he asked with contempt. "You of all people should be for what Terra Firma is about after what the batarians did to you"

"I won't forget the crimes committed against me or my home, but I'll do it from justice, not racism." Shepherd said not looking back at him.

Saracino scoffed. "Pretty hypocritical coming from the butcher of Torfan" he sneered. Tali glared at the man and punched him.

"You don't know anything about him, bosh'tet, so don't talk like you do!" Tali growled. Shepherd touched her shoulder.

"It's not worth it, Tali" he said. "We got a council meeting to attend to" Kaiden and Tali nodded.

"Good, get out of here!" Saracino said. "We don't need an alien lover representing us!" The team walked away.

_**Sayang: Keelish for love or lover**_

_**A Proper send-off for Ashley, don't you think? REVIEW and COMMENT**_


	57. Chapter 45: Betrayal

**Chapter 45: Betrayal **

The team made it to the citadel tower. The Council kept them waiting in their audience chamber, A very blunt method to display authority and power. Of course to Shepherd it was just another way to piss him off. He heard footsteps coming up the stairs; it was Udina coming up the stairs, possibly to seize as much opportunity from this as he can. As the Ambassador walked, his eyes and the spectre's met and the two glared at each other.

"Shepherd" Udina said curtly.

"Udina" Shepherd said curtly. The Ambassador walked past Shepherd and waited for the council to appear. Tali walked up to Shepherd.

"At least your ambassador is here early" Tali said.

Shepherd scoffed. "Lucky us" he muttered sarcastically. Tali tilted her head in confusion; Shepherd knew what was coming next.

"I've noticed the animosity you have toward your Ambassador, why do you hate him?" she asked.

"He was the one who botched the rescue efforts for Mindoir" Shepherd said. "Udina was representing Elysium then, when the batarians attacked Mindoir he held back protection for my colony, the Alliance could have saved more lives if they were there sooner, but because of a stupid political tit for tat with the rep from my colony, people died, my family and friends included."

Tali eyes grew wide and she frowned at Udina, for causing her boyfriend pain. "That bosh'tet. How can he get away with that?"

Kaiden sighed. "Unfortunately, Udina was also head of parliament back then, before becoming our Ambassador, and there was no evidence that he did anything illegal" he said.

"Also, Mindoir was small on the power structure, after all who has more priority a small farming colony or the oldest, richest colony? It was the obvious choice for parliament; sacrifice the weakest to save the strongest, that's what I hated about politicians" Shepherd said angrily. "To people like Udina, they don't see real lives that have suffered, they see them as game pieces in their twisted game of chess"

Shepherd sighed and looked away. "Eventually, they rebuilt Mindoir, but... it just wasn't the same."

Tali came over and leaned her head against his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Wayne" Tali said sadly. _'Me too'_ Shepherd thought.

Finally the three Councilors appeared, as always far removed from the bridge he was standing on, looking over the little people. "Commander Shepherd, welcome back" the asari councilor said. Shepherd gave a curt nod, he wasn't in the mood for the formalities, he wanted to go after Saren already. "Thanks to your efforts, if Saren is foolish to attack the Citadel, we'll be ready"

"Patrols are being stationed at every mass relay linking the Terminus Systems to Citadel space," the turian Councilor said.

Shepherd looked at them blankly. "That's it?" Shepherd asked. "What about Ilos?"

"IIos is only accessed through the Mu Relay, deep inside the Terminus Systems, Commander" the salarian councilor explained. "Any fleet would have to traverse the Terminus for weeks, enough time to start a war."

Udina glared at Shepherd. "Now is the time for discretion, Commander. Saren's greatest weapon was secrecy. Exposed, he is no longer a threat. This is over" Udina said sternly. Shepherd frowned, this wasn't enough, Saren had a plan to bring the reapers back and the key was Illos, he needed to get there.

"One ship is not going to start a war" Shepherd said trying keep his emotions under control. "I can get in and out without the Terminus clans knowing"

The turian councilor pointed his finger at him accusingly. "You detonated at nuclear bomb on Virmire, and you say you can be discreet?" he said with venom. The asari and salarian councilors nodded in agreement.

"Your style has served you well in the traverse, we recognize that but Ilos requires a deft touch" the asari said. "We have the situation under control."

Shepherd frowned. "What about the reapers?" he asked. "Saren's is just a puppet, Sovereign is the true threat."

"Only you have seen the reapers and then only in visions" the asari councilor said firmly. "We won't invade the Terminus system because of a dream" Shepherd was losing ground fast, things was getting desperate, he had to stop Saren, everything depended on this. He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth as he went forward.

"If Saren finds the conduit, we're all fucked!" Shepherd said. "What part of that don't you understand?!"

The turian looked at Udina. "Ambassador Udina, I get the feeling that Commander Shepherd isn't willing to let this go" he said.

Udina glared at Shepherd. "There are serious political implications here, Shepherd!" Udina growled. "Humanity's made great gains due to you becoming spectre, but now you are becoming more trouble than your worth" Shepherd glared back, he didn't want to hear that from him, he was about to speak up but Kaiden beat him to it.

"You bastard! You're selling us out!" Kaiden roared.

Udina just ignored him and walked forward. "It's just politics, Commander, you did your job, now let me do mine" Udina said. "All primary systems of the Normandy have been locked out, you're grounded until further noticed."

"You son of a bitch!" Shepherd yelled. "I had to sacrifice a friend to get where we are; you're just going to piss it all away!"

"I think it's time for you and your team to leave now, Commander" Udina said smugly. "This no longer concern you, the council can handle this, with my help of course"

"Bastard…" Shepherd was going to punch the older man out, but he felt Kaiden and Tali holding him back trying to get him downstairs. "Watch your back, Udina; nobody stabs me in the back, nobody!" Back on the Normandy, Shepherd was on the crew deck pacing around angrily. The spectre made it clear from his body language he was not in mood for bullshit, but they could understand this was a threat that needed to face and the council was just ignoring him after all he's done for them. "FUCK!" he shouted as he punched the locker. He slumped to the floor, finally being burned out emotionally, for the first time Shepherd did not know what to do.

"Wayne…" Shepherd looked up and saw Tali standing before him looking worried. "Hey"

Shepherd smiled a little, seeing his quarian lover always cheered him up, and something to make him smile was what he desperately needed now. "Hey" Tali sat down close to Shepherd and Shepherd wrapped his arms around her as she leaned into him. They just sat there quietly, until Tali spoke up.

"Are you all right?" She asked.

"A little now that you're here" Shepherd said softly.

"I'm sure there's a way to appeal, what about the Alliance?" She asked.

Shepherd sighed. "Official channels are closed, Udina made sure of that" he said tiredly. "After all we've done, just for it end here…I'm starting to wonder if Ash's death was in vain…"

Tali looked at him shocked. "How could you say, Wayne?!" she asked. "She would hate you if she saw you now"

"Then what am I supposed to do? I'm a borderline CAT6 soldier for Torfan, with a hated interspecies crew, and I've burned so many bridges with the council"

"I don't know the answers, but I know you'll find it, you've never let anyone down before and you won't now" Tali said. "I know that to be true and Ash knows that too. No matter what, I trust you."

Shepherd chuckled a little and kissed Tali. . "You always believe in me despite whatever stupid thing I do" he said. "What would do without you?"

Tali smiled. "Give me time, I'll think of something" she joked.

"Smartass" he said with a smile. The comm opened.

"Commander got a message from Captain Anderson." Joker said. "He wants you to meet him at Flux,"

Shepherd got off the floor and helped Tali up, he then raised a brow. "Flux? The hell?" he asked.

"Yeah, I know, can you see the Captain as big club goer?" Joker asked. "Anyway, best not to make him wait"

"Thanks, Joker" he said. The com closed.

"Duty calls" the Quarian said.

"Seems so" he said. Shepherd waved goodbye to Tali. Shepherd and team made their way their way to the Flux. Shepherd had asked Tali to stay behind, to get the engines up for when they had a plan to get off the station, so Garrus and Kaiden went with him. Flux as usual was absolutely overcrowded with people; it was almost hard to find him. They went in deeper and found Anderson sitting at a table, near the bar. The Captain noticed them, waving for Shepherd sit down with him.

"Shepherd, I'm glad you came" Anderson said holding out his hand.

Shepherd shook it. "Glad to come" he said. "Now I know how you felt"

The captain sighed. "I know I'm sorry" Anderson said. "I wanted to warn you. But there was no way to warn you before you docked, I know you're pissed, but you have a job to do, this isn't over"

"Damn right, it's not, so you got a plan?" Shepherd asked.

"Citadel control locked out all the Normandy's systems, as per the ambassador's orders," Anderson explained. "But if we can override it, we can get the Normandy back on-line, you can be in and out of the Terminus before they know it"

Shepherd frowned. "Risky, if we do this, you'll be left holding the bag"

"And if Saren finds the conduit, we're all screwed" Anderson said. "You're the only one that can stop him, so I'll do whatever it takes"

"Thank you, so what's the plan?" Shepherd asked.

"I can unlock the Normandy from one of the consoles in the Citadel control center. You'll have a few minutes before anybody realizes what has happened." Anderson said.

"That's a restricted area patrolled by armed guards," Garrus said "How are you going to get in?"

"Leave that to me," Anderson said, "Just make sure you're in the Normandy when the systems come back on-line."

"But, Captain, you'll be full of holes before you even make it to the console." Kaiden said concerned. "There must be a better way"

"The order came from Udina's office. If I can override it from there, by hacking into his computer."

"As much as I like pissing off Udina, you'll be charged with treason, a capital offense" Shepherd said.

"Those are the options we have. I break into the ambassador's computer, or I take my chances with the patrols in Citadel control."

Shepherd was silent, Anderson either getting killed or tried for treason; both did not sit well with him. "I don't like this…" Shepherd said. "Try hacking Udina's computer, it's less risky."

"I agree," Anderson said. "Besides, Udina has made this personal. Then this it's settled. You're ready to get the hell off this station?"

"I'm ready." Shepherd said. "You better be careful, old man"

Anderson smirked. "You too, little punk"

The team made their way to the Normandy. Kaiden looked at Shepherd.

"Old man? Little punk?" Kaiden asked with a smirk. Shepherd chuckled sheepishly.

"Just some old, memories" he said.

Shepherd and team made it back to the Normandy. The wait was maddening; the crew still couldn't believe that they were stealing the Normandy, especially Pressily who at his station cursing up a storm. Meanwhile Shepherd was in the cockpit with Joker waiting for the signal. It was red, which indicated they were locked in place. Upon turning green, it would mean that the Normandy is free, and they'd be able to escape the Citadel.

Joker shook his head. "This is crazy, I hope you know that" he said.

"I know, but look on the bright side, if we do escape and the council gives chase you'll be able to put the Normandy in her paces" Shepherd said half-jokingly. "Fun right?"

"Yeah, not really" Joker said dryly. Suddenly the docking indicator shifted from red to green. The Normandy was now unlocked. Joker blinked. "Holy shit, he did it!"

Shepherd smirked. "Good ol' Anderson, get us out of here, now!" he ordered. Joker nodded and worked his fingers on the console and maneuvered the Normandy out of the docking area. In mere seconds, it was fully turned around and flying at top speed away from the Citadel. Next stop the Mu relay.

Joker sighed and set back in his chair. "We're got twelve hours to the Mu Relay" he said. Shepherd nodded and walked to get ready. The final battle was almost upon them.


	58. Chapter 46: Passion

_**Warning: Smut incoming, reader discretion is advised….**_

**Chapter 46: Passion**

As the Normandy made their way to Ilos, Shepherd met with Garrus for preparation for the final mission. This was going to be the mother of all missions, and Shepherd spared no cost to make sure his people was safe, after all he didn't want another Virmire to happen. "So how our equipment?" Shepherd asked.

"All ready, I still can't believe you got Colossus armor, Savant omni-tool, and Spectre-class weapons for all of us, not even most militaries have equipment as good as this" he said with a smirk. "How could you afford all this stuff?"

Shepherd rubbed his neck sheepishly. "I may have pocketed some loot, when we hit some of the pirate's bases" Garrus stared blankly.

"You're kidding?" he asked.

"Hey, in my defense, a mission of this size isn't cheap" Shepherd said. "Plus, we were stealing from pirates and slavers; I doubt they can play the victim."

"Well at least, you decided to use for good, that's something right?" Garrus said joked. The two men laughed, until Tali walked up to them.

"What's so funny?" She asked.

"Nothing, just a stupid guy joke, what's up?" Shepherd asked. Tali played with her fingers nervously. "Rookie?" he asked.

"Can I speak to you, alone?" She asked. Shepherd scratched his head in confusion.

"Uh, sure" he said. Tali took his hand pulled him to the elevator. "Tali, what's this about?"

"It's a surprise" She said. She pulled Shepherd into their cabin and took off her helmet.

"We're here, so…" Shepherd started but was interrupted by Tali's deep kiss on the lips. He blinked in surprise, but then grabbed her waist and pulled her in for deeper kiss. She then decided to surprise his further by kissing on his neck. "Wow…" was all he could say before gently stopping her so he could clear his mind.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't wait any longer" Tali said. Shepherd waved his hands.

"No, no, I like this side of you, its sexy, but what's this about?" he asked. She looked at him and tears ran down her cheeks as she hugged him tightly, softly crying. Shepherd wrapped his arms around to calm her down. He lifted her head to look her in the eyes. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I'm afraid of the mission," she said softly. "I'm afraid that this is the last time, I can hold you like this"

"That's why I wanted you here" Tali said." If we lose..."

"We're not going to lose" Shepherd said. "Don't give up hope, we have the best ship, powerful allies that will fight and die for us, and lots of weapons"

"And what if it's not enough?" she asked softly.

"It has to be, Virmire scared me, not only we lost Ash, but I almost lost you" Shepherd said. "That's why I'll do everything in my power to make sure you're safe, because I love you"

Tali smiled. "I love you, too" They kissed deeply once again, Tali reached up Shepherd's shirt and the spectre grabbed her hand.

"Are you sure about this?" Shepherd asked. "Kissing is one thing, but…." Tali put her finger on his lips.

"I'm sure, I took precautions, herbal supplements, antibiotics, and a decontamination unit" she said. Shepherd raised a brow, and Tali pointed up to big silver cylinder in the middle of the cabin. Shepherd going to ask, but Tali beat him to it. "Adams and the rest of engineering, I didn't know until they told me"

"I don't know if that's sweet or creepy" Shepherd said.

"I had the same feeling" she said with a laugh. She then grew serious and turned Shepherd's head to face her. "I... I can understand if you have doubts…but if I am to die, I want to be able to give myself to the man I love"

"Sharing one's body is one of the most important things a quarian can do" Tali said. "We don't leave our suits for just anybody, it must be someone they trust and care for, and I never trusted anyone enough for that, not even one of my people, except you…" Shepherd was touched, by her statement, he was her first and she trusted him enough to potentially get herself sick to be with him, it was more than he deserved. Shepherd kissed her lips.

"Thank you for this privilege, you really are special to me, which is why I have to ask: are you sure you're ready for this?" he asked.

"I've never been so sure of anything in my life..." Tali said. Tali pulled away from Shepherd and activated her omni-tool and her suit decompressed. "I heard the most intimate thing for human is for one to take off the clothes of the other…" Shepherd smiled, went to her and took off the arm section of her suit, revealing a slender, but toned light purple arm. Shepherd took her hand kissed her up to her neck, she moaned and shivered softly. He was behind her and sucked on the back of her neck. "Keelah, Wayne…." Shepherd found a little grey dial on the top of her suits back, Shepherd tried to release it but was having trouble, luckily Tali was more than happy to help her with the seals along her back. With one little twist, the entire chest area along the back split open and fell to the floor, revealing bare torso.

"Beautiful…" Shepherd whispered in her ears. Tali blushed. The spectre wrapped his arms around the quarian and his hands when down to her lower regions. Tali shuddered as the human touched her clit, Shepherd smirked, this was one horny quarian, she was already wet to the touch he made his move and dug his fingers in while nuzzling on her back. Tali's moans intensified as Shepherd fingered her clit, it was so warm to the touch. He then felt Tali pull his hand out and faced him.

No…fair, why do you get all the fun?" She asked breathlessly. Tali's arms under Shepherd's shirt feeling his abs and chest. She took off his shirt and kissed him deeply on the lips, she then gave mischievous smile, revealing her sharp canines, which made his manhood swell. She pushed the spectre on the bed, and took off his pants and then his briefs. A long dark cock was there greeting her. "Keelah…"

Shepherd blushed and cleared his throat. " Uh, y…yeah…" Shepherd couldn't understand it, he's been with plenty women before, had plenty of experience with sex, but the way Tali looked at him, he was all of a sudden bashful. Maybe it was because it was his first time with an alien, or maybe he wanted to be her good, no, excellent first time. But then, his thoughts were interrupted, when three-fingered hands started to stroke his cock. "Holy…" Shepherd started to shudder in pleasure as Tali stroked him, until he had a release. "Damn girl, where'd you learn that?"

Tali blushed. "Joker let me borrow his human porn…I hope that was okay…" Shepherd smiled and turned the quarian woman over and took off the bottom half of her suit. Tali moaned in ecstasy when Shepherd went between her legs and licked her clit. "Keelah…" She enjoyed the treatment he giving, she never realized how good her first time would be, she yelp in surprised when Shepherd's tongue went inside her, the sensation was unlike anything she felt before as she clutched the sheets on the bed tightly. And it stopped, as she saw Shepherd get off her. "Wayne…" she whined. Shepherd looked back and smirked as he took off his boots and pants, and there he stood in all his glory, sweat glistening off his dark skin, he was beautiful.

He went on top her, sucking in her breasts, nuzzling on her nipples, and then a gentle kiss on the lips. "Anyone ever told you have nice tits?" he asked. Tali blushed and slapped his chest playfully. They then kiss as Tali tightly wrapped her arms around Shepherd's body, hungrily kissing him; her passion fueled by the ecstasy of feeling another warm skin on hers for the first time of her life.

"Are you ready?" he whispered. Tali nodded and Shepherd thrust into her, she gasped as he pierced her slow, being ever so gentle. Her senses were driving wild with every thrust of his cock, her legs wrapped around and she held him tight as his movements intensified. Shepherd grabbed her waist and this time she was on top of him going up and down on his manhood, their fingers were intertwined as they move as one. "God, you're so tight…"

"Wayne, saya sayang kamu, saya sayang kamu" she said rapidly as they were reaching the climax. It was too much for Tali, and she gave loud scream of pleasure. "I'm…I'm" She said. The lovers released together and kissed deeply. Shepherd and Tali laid in each others arms and looked in each others eyes as the air cooled them off, they got lost in each others eyes. They both smiled as they slowly went to sleep.

Moments later, the intercom beeped waking Shepherd up from his slumber; he looked down and saw Tali sleeping peacefully in his arms. He smiled, he could watch her all day if he was wanted too, unfortunately time would have that. Shepherd kissed her cheeks, and the woman stirred awake. She smiled at him and kissed his lips. "Hey, sexy…"

Shepherd chuckled. "Hey, yourself baby girl" The couple went up and Shepherd got dressed, he was the first to be fully clothed and went to help Tali, kissing every parts he have to say good-bye, at least for a little while.

Tali giggled. "Okay I get it; you'll miss my legs, my arms…"

Shepherd smirked. "Your neck, your lips, and don't forget…" he stared down at her breast lewdly. "…the twins"

Tali shook her head as she put on her helmet. She then sighed. "The most amazing night of my life, and back stuck in this damn suit…" she said sadly.

"Hey, with or without the suit, you are drop-dead gorgeous…never forget that" Shepherd said. Tali hugged him.

"saya sayang kamu, Jiwa…" Tali said.

Shepherd looked at her. "Jiwa, I don't think I've ever heard that"

"Jiwa means my light and my hope…it's what quarian couples say to each other that would risk everything for the other, you are my Jiwa" Tali said softly.

Shepherd touched his head to her helmet. "And you're my Jiwa also, saya saying kamu…"

_**Saya Sayang Kamu: Keelish for I love you**_

_**Jiwa: Keelish for 'my heart and hope'**_

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	59. Chapter 47a: Ilos pt1

**Chapter 47a: Ilos pt1**

_Like the ancient human city of Troy, Ilos is a world known only through second-hand sources. References to Ilos have been found at several other Prothean ruins, though direct study of the world is unlikely to occur. Ilos lies in a remote area of the Terminus Systems only accessible by the legendary Mu Relay. Four thousand years ago, the Mu Relay was knocked out of position by a supernova and lost. Since then, Ilos and its cluster have been inaccessible._

_Occasionally, a university will organize an expedition to chart a route to Ilos using conventional FTL drive. These never get beyond the planning stages due to the distance and danger. The journey could take years or decades, passing through the hostile Terminus Systems and dozens of unexplored systems.-Codex _

Shepherd came to the CIC of the Normandy, with a big grin off his face. His last moments with Tali had been the best of his life, they had finally made love and the wait was worth it, she was worth it. The Commander's good mood was not lost on the crew as the watch the happy man walk to the cockpit. Shepherd made it to the front, where most of the ground team was there.

Kaiden looked at Shepherd. "You seem happy" Shepherd just smirked.

"Like you wouldn't believe, my man" Shepherd said. Kaiden's eyes grew wide.

"You didn't…" He gasped. Shepherd's smile confirmed it. "You dog, congrats, but what about…"

"She's fine" he said. "So what's up?"

Kaiden grew serious. "We're approaching the Mu relay, it's time" The team watched as the Normandy was getting to the relay. Joker fingers flowed on the console and there was a light blue flash in front of them, and the Normandy warped through. It was always a weird feeling traveling through the Mass relay, it was disorienting and it made you lose your sense of time. At the end of the blue tunnel, they saw a green-brown planet, Shepherd knew what it was even though he's never been there, it was Ilos. And that was not all either, at least a few geth dropships were in the way.

"Huh, must be a popular tourist spot this time of the year" Joker said dryly.

"Have their sensors picked us up yet?" Kaiden asked.

Joker shook his head. "Stealth systems are on, unless we're in their face, they're going to detect us" Pressly spoke up.

"Commander, I'm picking us some strange readings from the planet's surface" he said. The team looked at each other, they all had the same thought, it was Saren and he had a huge lead on them,

Shepherd frowned. "Take us down, Joker. Lock on those coordinates"

"Negative on that Commander, the nearest landing zone is two clicks away" Pressly said.

"That's too far on foot; can't you get us something closer?" Garrus asked.

"There is nowhere closer! I've looked!"

"Then we go by mako" Shepherd said. Pressly looked at him with wide eyes, it was crazy, the problem was that there was only twenty meters near Saren, and the Mako needed at least 100 meters for a drop like that. "I know it's crazy, but we need to catch to Saren, like now"

"But Wayne, it's a suicide run! We don't…" Kaiden started.

"I can do it" Joker said. The team looked at the pilot. "Trust me"

Shepherd nodded and smirked. "Always did, "Kaiden, and Gar…"

"I'm coming with you" Tali said from behind.

Shepherd frowned and looked back. "No way, rookie, after what we did, I'm not going to risk your health with a fire fight" Shepherd said.

Tali crossed her arms. "Ilos will be full of geth, you know you need me" she said. "Besides, I got cleared by Chakwas" Shepherd eyes grew wide and he opened his com.

"Chakwas, explain" Shepherd said firmly.

"Calm down, Commander, she has a clean bill of health, it turns out humans causes a much less reaction in quarians, add in the supplements, the antibiotic and the decontamination unit in your room, she shouldn't be sick for a while" she said.

"But…" Shepherd said. Tali gripped his arm.

"I'll be fine, promise" she said softly. Shepherd sighed.

"Fine, but play it safe" he said. Tali nodded. "Head to the Mako, Joker land us on top of that bastard"

Meanwhile on Ilos' surface, Saren is walking into a large structure surrounded by geth. However a noise attracts his attention and he sees the Normandy screaming down from the upper atmosphere. Saren growled. "Damn, I would have thought we have more time…" he said. "Keep moving! Inside now!"

The mako drops to the ground, Pressly was right, the descent angle was too steep, Shepherd activated the tank's thrusters to at least have a chance to not crash. Tali on her end worked frantically to strengthen the mako's shields to further soften the landing. At the last second Joker pulls the Normandy out of the dive as the Mako rolls to stop just outside the doors as they close. The team gets out and examines the door in front of them.

"Damn, so close…it looks like heavy weapons are not going to work on this bunker" Kaiden said.

"Saren found a way, there must be a security override somewhere in the complex" Tali said.

"Then we better hurry up and find it" Shepherd said. The team turned around and head back into the ruins. The ruins were huge and an impressive sight, single stone cubes and rubble lay around, and everything was covered by strange, brown, alien lichens. Around them larger vegetation grew, which was just as strange to the eye. Alien skyscrapers could be seen as far as the eye could see. But it also caused great sorrow with the team, this must have been an awe-inspiring sight in the past, but now it was constant reminder of what could happen to them if Saren brings back the reapers.

"Rookie, you okay?" Shepherd asked.

"Yeah, I just feel like we shouldn't be here…like we're desecrating sacred ground" Tali said.

"I know what you mean, Tali…no one should be here, and the dead should be allowed to rest…." Kaiden said. A shot then rang pass them and they quickly went to cover. Three geth troopers came out guns blazing. Shepherd threw out a grenade and took out two of the three troopers, Kaiden knocked the last one off its feet and blasted it with his pistol. However the team couldn't relax just yet as more Troopers, reinforced by Geth Shock Troopers, and Geth Rocket Troopers appeared. Tali hacked the rocket trooper, and the rocket started to blast its allies giving Shepherd and Kaiden and opening. Shepherd lifted the get up with his singularity field and Kaiden shut them down with a warp field.

"I think that's all of them" Tali said walking out of cover. All of the sudden, a blue energy field hit the ground and Tali was thrown back. Shepherd ran over and caught the quarian before she it the ground.

"Tali, you alright?" Shepherd asked.

"Y…Yeah, I think, what was that?" Another blast hit the cover they were in and crumbled, to reveal two armatures about to fire at them again.

"Move!" The team ran as the armature kept firing on the team, blasting craters into the earth. The found a deep trench for cover, giving them the perfect chance to counterattack. Shepherd sent out two grenades to stagger the first one's legs. Tali and Kaiden then overloaded its shields, and Shepherd took pot shots at it with his assault rifle until it fell. Next they faced the second armature, but this one was a little harder as it kept moving in and out of cover. The team then went with a pincer strategy, with Kaiden and Tali boxing the armature from the sides. As soon as on the armature had lock on one, the other would it, keeping it from attacking. As they whittled down his defenses down to nothing, Shepherd came in guns blazing dodging siege pulses, he slid under the armatures legs and was behind it. "Let it have it!" The team opened fired, until the armature couldn't take it anymore and went down hard.

The team went on their way, to a courtyard of some sort, it looked eerie with the husk-like statues watching their every move. So far they didn't meet any geth, but that didn't mean they weren't there waiting to ambush them. They went up a hill, it was too quiet…"Wayne, something's wrong, this can't be all the geth" Kaiden said.

"Saren could have made a mistake…" Tali said.

Shepherd frowned. "No, I don't think so, Saren's too good of a strategist to just slip up" he said. "Kaiden's right" All of sudden as sharp pain hit Shepherd's shoulder, and he was on his knee clutching his shoulder.

"Wayne!" Tali said.

"Tali, be on your guard!" Kaiden said. Kaiden and Tali crowded to protect Shepherd from harm as four hoppers made their appearance.

"Guys behind us!" Shepherd said. At the far corner of the courtyard were several troopers, a destroyer, and a juggernaut. They were surrounded…

_**Dun Dun Dun! Cliffhanger…see you next time!**_

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	60. Chapter 47b: Ilos pt2

**Chapter 47b: Ilos pt2**

Guns were blazing as the team was in a heavy firefight against the geth, while Kaiden and Tali were fighting them; Shepherd injected himself with medi-gel. The cover they were in shook as the destroyer and the Juggernaut kept firing, they were boxed in. Without them noticing, a hopper snuck up behind them, only to be smashed against the wall by Shepherd. The spectre rolled his arm a bit, it hurt a bit, but the pain was dulled enough for him enter the fight.

"Tali, hack the hoppers. Kaiden, you're with me, take out the small fries!" Shepherd said. Kaiden and Tali nodded. Tali hacked one of the hoppers; its sabotaging abilities would be useful against the other geth. Shepherd threw a grenade in the middle of the group, and it exploded causing the shock troopers to fly, Kaiden overloaded the destroyer's shields while the hacked hopper and Tali sabotaged the juggernaut's systems causing the big red geth to explode taking the destroyer with it. The hopper was back to normal and turned its attention on the team, Shepherd trapped it in a stasis field, giving Kaiden and Tali a chance to gun the geth down. "Good riddance"

"Are you alright?" Tali asked.

"Yeah, medi-gel took care of the wound, come on we need to catch up to Saren" Shepherd said. Just a little further from the courtyard was an elevator; the squad went inside and went down. The team was amazed at how resilient Prothean technology was, 50,000 years later and the machines were still running. The team made it down to the bottom, and were met it more geth Juggernauts, troopers, shock troopers, rocket troopers, and a prime. The synthetics took little time to shoot on the team, scattering them. Tali tried to hack the juggernauts, but instead her omni-tool was sabotaged by the prime, making the fight that much difficult. Shepherd and Kaiden backed up the quarian using their biotics. The fight was long, and the geth were backing the team into the corner.

"Shit, these bastards don't give up!" Shepherd ducked into cover, with a bullet barely missing his head. If something was not don't they was be trapped, Shepherd looked around the battlefield and saw armature, he had wondered why they weren't moving, but he would figure it out later. "Tali, can you hacked those armatures?"

Tali looked at the deactivated geth and smirked. "On it, just watch my back!"

Shepherd nodded. "You heard the lady" Kaiden overloaded the rocket trooper's shields, while Shepherd blasted the geth back with his throw field. The prime fired at the duo, causing them to returned to cover, while the troopers attempted to flank them. "Tali…"

"Another minute!"

Shepherd and Kaiden pushed back the troopers before they got them on the side. "We don't have another minute!"

"One more code sequence….come on…."

The prime and juggernaut blasted the cover they were in, the cover was almost done. "Rookie!" The armatures started to move and fired at the prime and juggernauts, the troopers stopped advancing and focused on the larger geth. This gave the team a fighting chance to turn the tides, Shepherd lifted the shock troopers up with a singularity field, and the armature's siege pulse finished them off. Kaiden and Tali sabotaged the rocket troopers, causing their rockets to explode and taking one of the juggernauts with them. After a while the battle went the other way, and with the prime down, the battle was over. "Cutting it kind of close, don't ya think, Rookie?"

Tali rolled her eyes. "You try to break the geth's firewall without it possibly turning on you" she said annoyed.

"Uh, guys? I think we found our way in" Kaiden said. The couple decided to cut their argument short and joined Kaiden. They went up the ramp, and were in a room with a console; Kaiden went to the console and worked on getting the bunker open. Just as Kaiden was fast at work, something caught Shepherd's eye, a hologram of sorts damaged from years of not being used. Shepherd found himself being drawn to it like a moth to a flame.

"…_too late…unable to…invading fleets…no escape…"_ Shepherd eyes went wide; he could understand it, despite never hearing the language before_. _The spectre looked back at the team; they didn't seem to notice what was happening over where Shepherd was at. Shepherd looked back at the hologram, despite understanding the language, the message was too broken up to be useful. _"…ot safe…seek…refuge…side archives…alled reapers…the Citadel…overwhelmed…only hope…"_ Shepherd then felt something on his arm and jumped.

"Keelah…Wayne, it's me…"

"Rookie…?"

"Weren't you listening? Kaiden got the bunker up, we can get Saren now…"Tali said. "Are you okay?"

"Y..Yeah…Let's get back to the mako" Shepherd said. Kaiden and Tali went downstairs, and Shepherd looked back at the holographic console, it was silent now. "What the hell was that?" Shepherd shook his head and went to catch up to the others. The team made it back to the mako with the bunker up, the mako rolled down the path; Saren had enough of a lead on them. As the tank rolled along, they were many pods along the walls, knowing how long they been there it was unsettling looking at them, it was tombs as far as the eyes could see. The team continued on their path, no enemies, but that didn't mean they would let their guard down. The tank was stopped by a force field, and as soon as they got closer, they were trapped by another force field that comes up behind the vehicle.

"A trap!" Kaiden said.

"I don't think this is a trap" Tali said. She got out of the Mako, and walked over to a door on their left.

"Rookie?" Shepherd asked. Shepherd and Kaiden got out and followed the quarian.

"I'm getting a signal from over here" she said.

"Geth?" Kaiden said.

"I don't think so" she said. She pressed a button and the elevator went down, to where the team had no idea.

"So this signal, think we can trust it?" Shepherd asked.

"I think so, the signature is much different from the geth's" She said. "Still we should be careful…" The elevator came to a stop, and the door opened revealing a new room full of pods like the last one, stretching in all directions from them. However, this room was full roots and soil so much that it almost looked like a natural cavern. In the center of the room was a lone terminal, Shepherd walked up to it check, and it came to life on its own. A holographic light flickered on, it was similar to the damaged hologram he already had encountered earlier. Only this time Kaiden and Tali seemed to have notice it this time.

"You are not Prothean. But you are not machine either." A voice said. ""This eventuality was one of many that were anticipated. This is why we sent our warning through the beacons."

Kaiden came up to it to examine the hologram. "A VI, but heavily damaged" he said. "I don't get what it's saying, some kind of strange language"

"It's prothean, it's greeting us I think" Kaiden and Tali looked at Shepherd.

"You can understand that? All I'm getting is gibberish." Tali said.

"I think it's the Cypher Shiala gave me, somehow I can understand prothean" Shepherd said. He opened his omni-tool. "Hold on, let me try something"

"I do not sense the taint of indoctrination upon any of you," the VI went on. "Unlike the others that passed recently. Perhaps there still is hope." Kaiden and Tali looked at each other.

"I can understand it now, how did you…?" Kaiden asked. Shepherd shrugged, Tali came up to the VI.

"Others?" Tali asked. "Saren was here?"

"Yes, he was trying gain access to the data stored in this terminal, but I had locked him out when I sensed the taint" the VI said. "He had given up and went ahead, I was going to abort all action, but then I sense another, one who was blessed with Cypher and pure"

"And so you activated the force fields, just who are you?" Shepherd asked.

"I am Vigil," the VI said. "An advanced non-organic analysis system with personality imprints from Ksad Ishan, chief overseer of the Ilos Research Facility. You're safe here for now. But that will change, soon, nowhere will be safe."

"You mean the reapers, what are they?" he asked.

"They are a highly advanced machine race of synthetic-organic starships. Every 50,000 years, reapers enter the galaxy to wipe out the most advance race" the VI said. "They wiped out one after the other, killing most, and turning the rest into indoctrinated slaves to strip the planets barren of any resources of technology."

"But why, for what purpose?" Kaiden asked.

"Unknown" it said. "All you must know is that the Citadel is a trap, the station is an enormous relay that links to dark space, the very edge of the galaxy"

"When the relay is activated, the reapers will pour through, and all will be destroyed." The team looked at Vigil with eyes of horror, this was worse than they thought. An perfect ambush right at the heart of galactic civilization.

"How hell no one notice the fact they're on a giant inactive relay?!" Kaiden asked.

"The reapers are careful to keep the secrets of the Citadel hidden that is why they created a species of seemingly benign organic caretakers"

"The keepers? What do they have to do with the reapers?" Tali asked.

"The keepers' purpose is to maintain the station's most basic functions, enabling the any species to use the citadel's technology without learning its true purpose"

"Making them complacent and off-guard until the reapers show up" Kaiden said.

"Yes, that was our fate, our leaders were dead before we even realized we were under attack, The reapers took control of the Citadel and with it the relay network" Vigil said. "Communication and transportation were crippled and each star system was isolated from one another, making them easy prey"

"Over the next decade, the reapers systematically obliterated our people. World by world, system by system, they wiped out slowly but surely"

"Keelah…"

"How do we stop this?" Shepherd asked.

"The conduit is the key, before the reapers attacked, we were on the verge of unlocking the secrets of the mass relays" Vigil said. A secret project had been located here, for developing the first Prothean made mass relay, one that linked directly to the Citadel."

"The conduit isn't a weapon; it's a backdoor to the Citadel!" Tali said.

"And then?"

"We sever the connection all connections with the outside and our facility went dark. We had been able to build up the cryogenic chambers, undetected by the Reapers." It said. "However, the Reapers had stayed for centuries, and energy was dwindling. I was designed to supervise the facility, and had been forced to shut down more and more stasis pods, until only the top scientists remained." The team glared at the VI

"You were supposed to protect them, how could you?" Kaiden asked outraged.

There was no other choice" the VI said. It almost sounded sad. "The top researchers were key to protecting all cycles, when they awoke, they knew the Prothean race was doomed and so they worked for the next couple of years creating a program that blocked the Citadel's control program. When the program is activated it stops the Keepers from activating opening the door, thus keeping the reapers in darkspace."

"Unless Saren succeeds"

"Yes, Saren is using the conduit, to rewrite the Citadel's control program yet again, this time to allow for the return of the Reapers." Vigil said.

"That won't happen" Shepherd said.

"Take this" it said. The console opened and revealed an optical disk." When you reach the citadel's master control, it will corrupt the Citadel's security protocols and give you temporary control over the station"

"Thank you" he said.

"No need to thank me, I am only doing what I am programmed to do" Vigil said. "You are your cycle's last hope, I pray for your success" The team went back to the elevator as Vigil's terminal went silent. As the elevator was going up, the team was processing ever they heard from the VI, the galaxy was literally in their hands.

"Keelah, all this death…I hope we can honor the protheans sacrifice"

"I hope so too, Rookie, I hope so too…"


	61. Chapter 47c: Ilos pt3

**Chapter 47c: Ilos pt3**

It was a normal day at Citadel control; it was business as usual monitoring traffic, looking out for anything suspicious. An asari yawns at her post, it was so boring, and she wished things could get more exciting for once. The only thing that was exciting that has happened, was the arrest of an Alliance Captain who attack the human ambassador, a Captain Andyson? Andersen? She could not think of the name, nor did she care human names all sounded strange anyway. She wished she could be on that patrol looking for that rogue human spectre though it had to be more exciting than this.

The asari heard a yawn and looked to her left. One of her colleges was taking her place at her post. "So any changes, Natal?" she asked.

Natal sighed. "Same as always, the occasional traffic jam, and the one-off jackass arguing with C-sec, safe and boring as always"

"Well don't get too comfortable, we have a war on our hands soon, because of that idiot human"

"Yeah can't believe that human spectre defied the council, so stupid especially humanity just got their first spectre" Natal said.

"Told you, it was a mistake, those humans are just too much of loose cannon to be trusted with something as important as a Spectre" she said. As the two asari talked, the indicator started to beep, Natal went to the console, someone just used the Citadel relay nothing of concern. But then there were more beeps and then more beeps until the Citadel control was a symphony of beeps. In the five hundred years of working at control, she's never seen that much traffic before.

"Oh, Goddess…" her friend said. Natal looked out the window and her eyes went wide as she saw a swarm of ships jump into the system. There must have been hundreds and thousands of ships pouring out of the relay. And in the middle was a huge ship, with a design she's never seen before, it look like a big black hanar. Slowly they were coming towards the relay, and then the tower shook hard, the ships were attacking the Citadel, it was an invasion. She wanted excitement in her life, and she got it and more.

_**The Destiny Ascension**_

The Destiny Ascension, the largest and most powerful ship in Citadel Space. Although it was built by the diplomatic asari, this ship struck fear in the hearts of the Citadel's enemies. This was the ship that stopped the krogan's advancement into the Widow system. This ship was the pride of the asari and Council, the first line of defense. But today, it was just any other ship, as the identified geth ships were pummeling them with rocket fire. The Ascension would destroy two or more of the enemies' ships, but three more would take their place and continued their onslaught.

"Activate defenses! Seal the stations!" the commander said. The asari in the ship were rapidly typing on the console to seal the Citadel, however…

"The arms aren't moving! Systems not responding!" The ship shook again, and to the left of the commander one of the consoles exploded and killed one of her soldiers. This was becoming a losing battle, not even the Ascension would last long at this point.

"Damn it, abandon the Citadel, evacuate the Council!" One of the asari opened the comm.

"Citadel Control! Citadel Control! Do you copy?!"

_**Citadel Control**_

Natal was in the corner cowering in fear, as she saw a geth holding her friend by the neck. Her friend tried to struggle out of its hand, but the synthetic didn't even budge. The next thing she heard was a sickening snap, as her friend's body went limp and the geth dropped her like she was nothing. The geth then had her sights on Natal, she tried to scurry from the synthetic, but her back was against the wall. She didn't want to die, she had a bondmate she loved dearly, she had a daughter that was just starting to see the world.

She wanted to grow old with her bondmate, she wanted to see the great things her daughter was capable of. But she looked in the soulless eye of the geth, it didn't care about dreams or what she wanted, to them she was a number, an equation for cold logic. The asari then felt cold three finger hands clutch her neck and held her in the air, she tried to struggle, but then she stopped, there was no use in fight in fighting her fate, she was going to die. Her only regret was that she wouldn't be able to say goodbye to her bondmate and daughter.

Tears flowed down Natal's cheeks. "Erinya, Oyra…forgive me…." The last thing she heard was the sickening snap of her neck and then darkness….

The geth dropped the asari, her cold dead eyes staring at nothing; it looked at its hand and saw water from the asari's eyes just before it killed her. It tilted its head in confusion as it stared at the water. It's thoughts were broken by the sound of a raspy voice.

"Citadel control neutralized, let's go" The geth followed as a comm opened.

"_Citadel Control! Citadel Control! Do you copy?!"_

_**Ilos**_

After driving and fighting the geth the team made it to an opened area, and at the center, was a column of light. The column of light was one thing and one thing only, the Conduit, the back door to the Citadel, and the only way to shut down Saren for good. But it would not be easy, geth surrounded the Conduit, as far as the eyes can see, from every type from regular trooper, to the bigger models like the Prime and Colossus. Shepherd was quite impressed, Saren went all out to make sure they didn't stop him, the soldier in him admired his pragmatism, but man in him told him, he needed to stop this.

"Keelah…" Tali said.

"That's a lot of geth" Kaiden said. "How are we going to go through that?"

Shepherd sighed. "Kaiden, just stand back and relax"

"You got a plan?"

"Yep, Rookie, diver all weapon systems to reinforce the shields, and I'll gun it" Kaiden and Tali looked at each other and then looked at Shepherd.

"Wayne, are you nuts?! We'll be defenseless, it basically a suicide run!" Kaiden said.

"He's right, Wayne" Tali said.

Shepherd looked back at them. "Do you trust me?" Kaiden and Tali were silent for a while, this plan of Shepherd, if you could call it a plan had disaster written all over it. But so did this mission at first, flying around trying to find Saren, where he could hide anywhere in the galaxy, there was no chance of success, but they did so anyway because of Shepherd.

"I've been with you for the longest, I'm with you" Kaiden said.

"Someone has to make sure my boyfriend stays out of trouble, I'm in too..." Tali said. The quarian immediately got to work on the systems of the Mako, directing all energy to the Shield and the engines. As she typed in the last code, she prayed to the ancestors this plan would work. "Done"

Shepherd nodded. "Let's finish this" The time window had started. They had to stop Saren and now were the time to do so. However, the Conduit still seemed to be in some distance. The Mako drove down the hill at full speed, catching the geth's attention. The geth went all out, firing guns, rockets, and siege pulses at the tank as the mako swerved, and jump trying to minimize the draining of the shield. The computer then beeped, something was happening.

"Energy signature weakening" Tali said. "It's closing!"

"Fuck!" Shepherd cursed. The spectre pushed it harder, trying get the tank to speed, but he was already driving it at the limit the tank offered, anymore and the element zero core could melt down killing everyone inside, but he had to, too much was riding on this. The Mako passed two Armatures, as they fired a siege pulse at the team, the pulse barely missed them, only for the tank to be hit by multiple rockets.

"Shields at seventy-five…no fifty…!" Tali said.

"Shit, already?!" Kaiden asked.

Shepherd pushed it beyond its limit, the computer beeps, a warning telling the team to slow down the mako before the core melts down. But they were almost to the conduit, a little more push and they would be home free, but the geth had other plans as four Colossi were standing in their way was ready to fire siege pulses. Kaiden spoke up.

"Rockets, behind us" Kaiden said The mako shook hard almost, flipping over, but Shepherd was able to regain some control.

"Shields down!" Tali reported. The instruments were going crazy, beeps and sirens were going off, one more hit and they were done. The Colossi fired, and without thinking Shepherd activated the thrusters jumping over the siege pulse and the Colossi. There was a buzzing sound as the core indicator reached ninety-eight percent. If the mako could hang on for a little while longer…they were so close…

"Energy is fading, it's closing fast" Tali said. Just one more push, one more push would do it...

"FUCK!" Shepherd pressed the button, and activated the thrusters one final time and was pushed into the light as the Conduit closes and everything goes white.

_**Review and Comment.**_


	62. Chapter 48a: Battle for the Citadel pt1

**Chapter 48a: Battle for the Citadel pt1**

She felt like she was being liquidized as the mass effect fields moved across her body. It didn't hurt or anything, it just felt...odd and she wondered if this was what Kaiden and Shepherd felt when they used their biotics. Her sense of direction was thrown for a loop, up was down, and left was right, the physical laws didn't matter. Even her sense of time was off, one second felt like a year, it was so alien that she felt scared; she hoped everything would get back to normal soon, and she really couldn't imagine an eternity of this. And then everything stopped, Tali looked around, she saw Kaiden lying across her. In fact, she was kind of jammed between the human and the Mako's electronic console, which was emitting sparks. She heard a moan, and saw Shepherd coming to.

"Everyone okay?" Shepherd asked shaking his head.

"If you're asking if I'm alive, yeah" Kaiden said. "I'm going to feel this in the morning"

"Just for the record Wayne, let's never, ever do that again" Tali said.

"Noted, rookie" Shepherd looked for the emergency hatch at the bottom, a feature of the mako should the tank be upside down, which they now were. He kicked out the panel, and crawled out; he waved for the others to follow him. It was an arduous task, but finally they all stood outside. The presidium was dark and on fire, it was a far cry from the bright and peaceful atmosphere of it before. Corpses and dragon's teeth littered the presidium as screams of the innocent filled the air. It was like a nightmare.

"Shit, did come too late?" Kaiden asked.

"Don't know, but I'm not willing to find out, let's get to the Citadel Tower" Shepherd said. As they made their way to the Citadel, saw dragons teeth go down and release husks. As soon they reach the ground, they attacked. Shepherd scoffed. "Don't have time for this shit…" He lifted the three husks with a singularity field and threw them off the ledge.

The team made it to the elevator; the elevator ride was slow as always. Tali tapped her feet impatiently wishing the elevator could go faster, she started wondering if the elevators were built like this on purpose. Shepherd looked back at the restless quarian and gripped her hand. "Something wrong rookie?" Shepherd asked.

Tali sighed. "Just thinking, what if we are too late? I'll never see my home again…" She said.

"Hey, you will, I promise" he said softly.

Tali gripped his hand tightly. "I hope so…" The elevator then shook, almost making the team fall to the ground. "Keelah, what was that?" Shepherd went to the elevator control, only to find no response.

"Shit!" Shepherd cursed.

"Uh, Wayne…look!" Kaiden said. The spectre looked behind him and saw the citadel starting to close, and something huge slowly coming down to the center of the Citadel. It was Sovereign, Saren was much closer than they thought. The reaper latched itself to a tower, and stood there waiting for the start of their invasion. Shepherd took his gun.

"Activate your mag boots, we're going to have to do this the hard way" Shepherd shoots the elevator window and the team jumped letting the mag boots to latch on the metal surface. The walk began; they had kept close to the elevator shaft so far. Suddenly, the elevator darted beyond them, and came to a stop some meters in front of them. The team went to cover. Glass splintered, and geth emerged from the elevator. The geth set up their personal shield, which made it difficult to get a bead on the synthetics, and the rocket troopers gave cover as the regular troopers tried to flank them. Tali took control of the rocket troopers and it started on firing on its allies, taking their attention away from the squad. Kaiden sabotaged the troopers and Shepherd shot the rocket trooper let them go on ahead.

The tubes seemed to go on forever, as the squad the rushed forward taking on geth after geth after geth. As soon as they get to the edge of the exhaust tubes, a krogan clone and a destroyer came out to greet them. The krogan charged the team, with the team firing on the charging clone, but the krogan had back up as the destroyer fired its heavy weapon, scattering the team. Shepherd took the brunt of the krogan's charge, as he was now pinned to the wall.

"Wayne!" Tali said alarmed.

"Tali, focus on the destroyer, Wayne can handle himself!" Kaiden said. Tali reluctantly focused on the destroyer, sabotaging its systems with Kaiden. When the geth no tricks to use on the duo the geth charged, Kaiden and Tali rolled out-of-the-way. The geth ran into the krogan who had Shepherd pinned to the wall and crashed into the clone, making him release the spectre. Shepherd returned the favor and lifted them both with a singularity field and threw them off the station. The rest however didn't last, as more geth fired on the team, Shepherd threw a couple of grenades to thin the herds and Tali and Kaiden finished them off with their guns. The squad finally could break through, towards a large open space, where a geth dropship was waiting for them.

"Aw, come on!" Shepherd complained. The dropship dropped endless waves of geth all firing at the team. "This is starting to piss me off!"

"Wayne, turrets" Kaiden said. Shepherd saw the three turrets in front of them. "We couls use them against that dropship."

"Those turrets are old!" Tali exclaimed. "I'm not even sure we can get them to work."

Shepherd smirked. "Well, it's a good thing we got our resident genius here"

"Thank you so much," Tali said sarcastically. Shepherd and Kaiden gave the quarian cover with their biotics. Tali ran over to the first turret and worked her fingers, the first turrets activated and fired on the dropship. Shepherd threw out grenades to give Tali more breathing room as she ran over to the second turret. The geth took shot at the quarian while she was trying to activate the second turret. Tali took cover, and hacked the trooper to give herself more time, while Kaiden sabotaged the geth.

The second turret active and joined the first into attacking the dropship. Tali ran to the last turret, this time things went relatively faster as the geth seemed to dropped much slower due to the damage the ship sustained. When she activated the third gun, the dropship, already hammered by two of them, tried to start and retreat. However, it did not come far. A well placed shot ripped apart the ship's underside. The ship sparked and in spectacular fashion went up like a fireball.

Shepherd whistled. "Nice one, rookie" he said with a smirk.

"Thanks, that felt good" The team went forward into another winding corridor until they made to an open area, as Shepherd took his step a huge rocket was head toward him. Shepherd's eyes went wide and jumped back into cover as the whizzed by. "You alright?"

"Yeah, but those turrets are going to be a pain" Shepherd said. "They target you as soon as you get into the open"

"So what do we do?" Kaiden asked. Shepherd opened a holo of the area and the team thought up a game plan. "The turrets are on the other side and have long-range capability. Not to mention they would have troopers backing up the turrets, fighting them head on would be would be suicide"

"But we need to get past there to get into the Tower" Shepherd said.

"What about this area?" Tali asked point to an area to the side. "If we can make there, we can bypass the turrets and get into the Tower from there"

"Nice, but we'll have to very careful, stick to cover and fight only when you need to" Shepherd said. Kaiden and Tali nodded. The team quickly ran to the first cover near them as the geth turrets fired a barrage of rockets at them. They quickly ran cover to cover; only fight the troopers to keep them off of them. Tali hack a couple of geth to keep the troopers occupied; they knew the troopers were there to flush them out of cover for the turrets to take care of them. After a while, the team made it to the side corridor, they were home free. Shepherd opened the hatch, Kaiden and Tali dropped down first, with everything cleared Shepherd dropped last in to the Council Chambers.

Just like the Presidium, the Council Chamber was dark only lit by several fires. Most of the trees in the small park areas were burning, as were several electronic panels. There were a couple of bodies scattered around the Chamber, along with several destroyed keepers, no doubt Saren knew of what happened to them. And at the center was Saren, in front of a holographic display…

"He's opening the Citadel relay!" Tali said.

"Shit let's go!" Shepherd said. It was time for the final battle.

_**Saren vs. The Normandy team…next time!**_

_**Review and Comment!**_


	63. Chapter 48b: Battle for the Citadel pt2

**Chapter 48b: Battle for the Citadel pt2**

The team rushed forward, to stop Saren from starting the new cycle of genocide in their galaxy from happening. Just as they were close, a gunshot made the team scatter to cover, Shepherd looked over cover and saw geth coming together to surround the turian. Saren looked back at them, with a smug smirk on his face. "Shepherd, I was afraid you wouldn't show"

Shepherd frowned. "I'm here now" Saren looked back, staring at the reaper in the middle of the Citadel. The look on his face had an almost reverence to the creature, it disturbed the team.

"Beautiful, isn't it? In the next few minutes they will come and the galaxy will change forever" Saren said. Saren looked back at the team with a cold look. "You've lost. You know that, don't you?"

"Tch, whatever, you will die just like Sovereign will" Shepherd growled.

Saren scoffed. "You see? This is what I'm trying to save the galaxy from the stubbornness, the foolishness, and the arrogance!" he growled. "You have the vision the like me, you know what the reapers are going to do, and yet you fight me!"

"I fight, because with the reapers there is no future, do you honestly believe you're the first organic to have those thoughts?" Shepherd asked. "If appeasement really worked, why aren't their species here with us?"

Saren was taken aback by the question. "I…"

"Because, the reapers killed them, all of them! What you are doing is opening the door to our own extinction!"

"Maybe…no, you are wrong! Sovereign saw that you would blind me to the truth and so he's given me his gift, he has upgraded me!"

"You let Sovereign implant you?! Are you insane?!" Kaiden yelled.

Saren glared at Kaiden. "No human, I am the sanest person in here, I am the pinnacle of evolution, a fusion of Organic and Synthetic, the strength of both and the weaknesses of neither" he said. "You should join me, Shepherd, after all you are in love with a species that has started down the same path, isn't that right, Quarian?"

Tali growled. "Bosh'tet! It's not the same; these implants are for our survival only, not to become the abomination you have become!" She said angrily.

Shepherd scoffed. "Don't waste your breath on him, Rookie, he's too far gone for reason" he said. "I rather fight, Saren, I may die, but at least I'll die with my dignity intact, that's my choice!"

Saren growled darkly. "So be it, I give you a gift, the birth of a true Utopia and you spit it back in my face" he said. "You are a threat to this new era and must be eliminated! Kill them!" The geth rallied and charged the team. For good measure, rocket drones were summoned to make the battle much more difficult. Tali and Kaiden sabotaged the drones making them all fall in a blaze of glory. Shepherd threw a couple of grenades at the approaching geth, it out all but one, a rocket trooper that was firing on the team. The spectre then raised the geth off the ground with a lift field and Kaiden shut it down with a warp. Next was Saren, who was nowhere to be found.

Confused and a bit desperate the team looked around. "What in ancestors' name is going on?" she asked. "He can't just disappear in thin air!" Suddenly, she caught a motion at the corner of her eye. She turned around and saw Saren on his hover board. "Keelah, behind us!" The hover board fired missiles at the team, Shepherd and Kaiden came up and raised a barrier to protect them from the impact. The impact was becoming too much and the squad fell back.

"You're becoming a nuisance, Shepherd!" Saren growled.

"I could say the same thing, Saren!" Shepherd said throwing a warp field. Saren flew around alternating between the fire of his assault rifle and the missile fire of his hover board. The team took fire at the turian, but he was too fast to hit and too maneuverable, as Saren could just fly in behind them and flush them out of cover, which he did quite often. Tali sabotaged his board, making it hard for Saren to control, while Shepherd and Kaiden pummeled him with gunfire, however at best they were only able to drain his shields. Saren's board recovered from the sabotage program much fast than Tali thought, and the fight continued.

"This is nuts, we'll be worn out before we get anywhere with him!" Kaiden said breathlessly. Shepherd looked out of cover, seeing Saren hovering waiting for the team to come at them, Kaiden was right they need it to end it and fast.

"Kaiden, Rookie, new plan, you two hit the board, I hit Saren" Shepherd said. "Give him everything you got!" Tali and Kaiden nodded and went on the offensive, attacking the ex-spectre with a combination of gunfire, biotics, and tech abilities. Saren worked hard to dodge the Normandy team's aggressive advances, however the turian made one mistake: taking his eyes off Shepherd, as the human was behind him pummeling Saren with warp fields. Then he hears a beep, he was stressing the board from all the dodging and the system were failing. "Keep it up!" The team continued the onslaught, hitting Saren and his board with everything they had, staggering him as bullets, biotics, and tech hit him. Shepherd glowed a brilliant blue and landed the final shot from his throw field. The biotic field hit him hard in the back and the turian fell from his board. It and his body fell below the bridge, leaving the tired squad sighing a breath of relief at least for now.

Shepherd walked up to the Control Terminal and activates his Omni-tool, uploading Vigil's data file. The team waited anxiously for the code to take effect hoping they stopped Saren in time. "Come one…come one…" Then a beep sounded, the program had been approved, Shepherd worked fast and typed in the code. They heard a large groan coming from above them; the team looked up to see the Citadel's arms starting to open. As Shepherd gets the comm channel open the first thing is a mayday call from the Destiny Ascension. Their shields were failing and their engines are offline, they also mention that the council is on board. The comm opened.

"Normandy to the Citadel. Normandy to the Citadel. Please tell me that's you, Shepherd" Joker said.

"I'm here, Joker" he said.

"I'm sitting with the entire Arcturan fleet, all ready to kick ass and take names!" Joker said. "We can save the Ascension! Give the word and we'll send the cavalry in!" Tali spoke up.

"Are you sure about this?" she asked. "You'll have a lot of casualties, Human casualties."

"This is bigger than us or the Council, Sovereign is a threat to the entire galaxy." Kaiden said. Shepherd closed his eyes, thinking about his next move, sure he didn't like the Council they've been a pain in his ass since he became a spectre. Always criticizing his actions, or the choices he make, it would be so much easier to just let them die and focus on Sovereign. But life wasn't was easy, it was about what was right. He made his choice.

"Go help the Destiny Ascension, as much as I don't like them, we need them, go save them" he said.

"Aye, aye, sir!" Joker said.

"I hope the council appreciates this" Tali said.

"They will, after all they owe us" Kaiden said. The team felt a rumble; they cover their eyes as a bright red glow covered the Council Chambers. Then a large angry growl filled the air, as the platform they were standing on shatters and dump the team into the field below. The team got up as they saw red sparks filling the area; it grew, and began to fly around in the room, until growing into red lightning coming from Saren.

"Keelah…" Tali said gripping Shepherd's arm.

"What the hell…?" Kaiden asked in horror. Saren's body is raised off the ground as it becomes infused with the bolts, stripping plates, skin, and muscle only leaving bone remaining until an explosion slams the squad against the walls. When the team came to, Saren's body was gone, but the feeling of foreboding was in the air as the team got up, weapons drawn ready for anything. A streak of red light caught the team's eyes and just as quickly disappeared from their sight, and then it happened again making the team nervous. A bright red energy exploded behind them making them fall to the ground, now they were facing their target, and their eyes went wide as they saw the enemy attached to the wall staring at them with an ominous red glow.

"Saren?" Shepherd asked in horror.

**"I AM SOVEREIGN AND THIS STATION IS MINE!" **The abomination once known as Saren attacked.


	64. Chapter 48c: Battle for the Citadel pt3

**Chapter 48c: Battle for the Citadel pt3**

"Well, shit." Was all Shepherd could say as the team fired at Sovereign, but its rapid jumps made it impossible to get a proper aim at him. Biotics helped a little, but Sovereign's own mass effect field, broke it out. Sovereign latched on to the wall and rapidly fired red bullets everywhere making cover all but useless.

Shepherd threw a couple of grenades at Sovereign, causing multiple explosions, but it didn't slow down the turian husk as latched to the floor. It moved slowly, never taking its soulless eyes off the team, it moved like a predator stalking its prey. The team moved also never taking their eye off Sovereign. Suddenly, Shepherd and Kaiden blasted Sovereign with warp fields, while Tali were trying to overload its shields. Sovereign jumped, blasting a stream of red energy, separating Shepherd from the rest of the team. With the Spectre alone, the husk pursued him, practically ignoring Tali and Kaiden. Shepherd move get some breathing room, and Tali and Kaiden shot the husk trying to get its attention but Sovereign was relentless in its pursuit blasting Shepherd.

A few of the blasts missed as he missed as he bobbed and weaved, however Shepherd got careless and hit wall as Sovereign fired off multiple red energy bullets. Shepherd raised his barrier as several of his red fireballs hit the Spectre. But the force was too much shattering his barrier and some of the bullets hit him square in the chest. Shepherd was thrown back and hit the wall hard. He shouted in agony clutching his chest, it was like he was melting from the inside out.

"Wayne!" Kaiden and Tali said coming to his side.

_**Outside the Citadel**_

Meanwhile, things were taking a turn for the worst as the Destiny Ascension was getting battered by geth ships. The turian ships were all but destroyed, and the geth swarmed through their defenses like it was nothing. All hope was disappearing right before their eyes, only the goddess could save them now.

"Captain, we're getting some activity from the Mass relay" an asari said.

"Oh Goddess no…please don't tell me the geth have reinforcements" the captain said in horror.

The navigator shook her head. "No, it's not geth, its…reinforcements from the Alliance!" The mass relay revealed a whole squadron of Alliance frigates, fighters and a few dreadnoughts flying at full speed, firing at the geth ships. The geth tried to react accordingly firing on the Alliance ships, but the humans came in hard and fast with Normandy leading as the tip of the spear.

The comm opened. "Destiny Ascension, you're all clear, I repeat, you're all clear" Joker said.

"This is Captain Alat of the Ascension, thank you and may the Goddess bless you" she said. The Destiny Ascension moved off the battle field, as Alliance ships moved in to take on Sovereign. Half of the remaining turian ships split off, one side to protect the battered Ascension and the other helping to support the Alliance.

"This is Admiral Hackett to all ships, the Citadel is open, unload on that metal bastard!" he said. The first on in there was the Normandy, followed by a dozen of frigates and fighters firing on the reaper.

_**Council Chambers-Courtyard**_

Sovereign prowled around Shepherd like a predator almost like it was taunting him, the spectre wasn't surprised he was completely at the husk's mercy. Tali and Kaiden fired at it, but at this point they were like mosquito bites as Sovereign just fired a red bullet to keep the human and the quarian from pestering it. Sovereign looked at Shepherd and lunged at him. This was it, he was going to die.

"WAYNE!" Tali screamed. Then a miracle happened Sovereign dropped to the ground, glowing red, howling in pain. Shepherd was confused at first, but then looked out the window and saw the Normandy and other ships swarming the reaper. Sovereign couldn't protect itself and possess Saren's body at the same time; it was putting a strain on the reaper.

"It's losing it…now's our chance…kill Sovereign!" he strained. Shepherd shakily raised his hand and caught the husk in a singularity field. He lifted it above the ground and held it there. Immediately, Kaiden and Tali raised their guns and fired until their guns over heated. Feeling its victory slipping away, Sovereign grew desperate and charged energy preparing to fire at Shepherd point-blank, if it was going to die he was going to take the Spectre with it. With Shepherd still in pain, he couldn't move. _'Shit'_ he thought.

"Wayne!" Kaiden thought fast and engulfed the husk in a biotic field that started to eat away at the husk. Tali came in close with her shotgun and blasted it until it overheated.

"Get away from him you bosh'tet!" Tali growled. Sovereign growled angrily and swung at the quarian, hitting her hard in the stomach.

"Tali! Bastard!" Shepherd growled. Shepherd glowed blue and hit Soverign with the strongest biotic field he could muster, blowing it back on the grass. Sovereign, then started to screech an inhuman screech until was lying on the ground, twitching only slightly. Suddenly, the red energy that so far had been held inside it engulfed it turning into a bright blaze. Finally the screeches stopped as the blaze stopped only leaving ashes behind.

_**Inside the Citadel arms**_

A red stream from the reaper fired at the Alliance, the Normandy barely dodges the blast as the ship climbed. However the ships at the Normandy's flank were not as lucky as the red beam sheared through them easily.

"Damn it, we just lost the Seoul and the Madrid!" Sovereign was not done yet as it fired wildly at the squadron, becoming desperate as it returns fire and just one shot severs an Alliance cruiser in half. "It's too strong! We need to retreat!"

"Negative, we retreat and we may never get another chance!" Hackett said. "Keep at it!"

"Sir! Something is happening to Sovereign!" The beams of energy stopped abruptly as the ship started to glow red sparks and the lights on the reaper went off, it lost power. Next, because it lost power lost its balance and started to fall, this was the chance they were waiting for. "It shields are down!"

Hacket nodded. "All ships, give it everything we got, blow that metal bastard to hell!"

"AYE-AYE, SIR!" The fleet opens fire and Joker swings the Normandy into a hard turn. The ship fires one missile that goes straight through Sovereign. The missile damage causes secondary explosions that tear Sovereign apart and it explodes. Cheers roared through the comms as the saw Sovereign get torn apart, however little did they know a small piece of the reaper was heading right for the Council Chambers.

_**Council Chambers-Courtyard**_

"Hell of a fight, eh?" Kaiden said exhausted. Shepherd tried to laugh, but ended up panting. His still chest hurt like hell.

"Something to tell the kids." Shepherd said trying get up. Tali helped him, holding him up.

"Are you all right?" the Quarian asked concerned.

"I'm... ugh." A wave of pain hit him. "I've been better" He looked at Tali, as she was touching her side. "Besides, I should be asking you that…"

"Nothing medi-gel can't patch up" The team looked out the window, looking as Sovereign was nothing more as bright fireball and random part floating out into space. They have done it, they defeat a threat 50,000 years in the making. After months of chasing Saren, after several painful revelations and hard battles, after too painful sacrifices and many disappointments, things were at an end. Even if this victory was only temporary, that didn't mean they couldn't enjoy it now.

"Beautiful sight, isn't it?" Shepherd asked.

"Ash should be here to enjoy this" Tali said softly.

Shepherd kissed her. "I know, Rookie…" he said. "At least we avenged her" Tali and Kaiden nodded. However, their victory was short-lived as they saw a piece of Sovereign flying towards them at high-speed. Shepherd's eyes grew wide; there wasn't enough to get everyone out-of-the-way in time, so he did they only thing he could think of… he bioticly pushed Tali and Kaiden out-of-the-way.

"Wayne!" Tali and Kaiden said alarmed. The window burst, and a huge fragment of Sovereign's leg came darting through it.

"Go!" Shepherd said before the fragment impacted his location at the top of Citadel Tower. A moment later, an Alliance team led by Anderson combs through the wreckage looking for survivors, the former captain looked around the Chambers and shook his head, what was once the heart of galactic civilization now lay in ruins—the very seat of the Council had been reduced to a mess of collapsed structures and debris of a now dead Reaper.

"Captain, we found survivors!" Anderson walked across the ruined Chamber, careful to not trip over the debris. As he turned a corner, he saw two people he recognized, Tali and Kaiden. The quarian was on her knees crying into her hands as Kaiden had his hand on her shoulder trying to console her. But something was wrong, if Kaiden and Tali were there, so should Shepherd.

"Kaiden, what happened here?" Anderson asked. "Where's the Commander?"

"H-he…he…oh Keelah…" Tali said in tears. Kaiden spoke up.

He…pushed us out-of-the-way, he saved…our lives" he said close to tears.

"No…" Anderson looked at the debris in horror, they may have stopped Sovereign, but not without cost.


	65. Chapter 49: Aftermath

_**This is it the last chapter for Part 1 of Mass Effect B&TB, for those that followed me from the first chapter, I'm thankful, so enjoy and I hope to see in part 2.**_

**Chapter 49: Aftermath**

Tali kept digging and dug some more hoping to the ancestors her lover was alive somewhere. She couldn't believe Shepherd was dead, she couldn't, they survived Cerberus, they survived the Thorian, the Rachni, Benezia and Saren. All the hardship he endured, only for him to be killed, she couldn't believe, she wouldn't believe. "Please… please be alive, Wayne," she mumbled to herself. "I can't… lose you. Please…"

Kaiden looked at the quarian with pity in his eyes, he knew where she was coming from, Shepherd wasn't just his Commander, he was his best friend. But even he had to face fact that Shepherd could be gone, a thought he had hated. He looked back at Anderson; he looked lost and distant, even as he was trying to find Shepherd's body. The grim reality if the situation was beginning to sink in for him. Kaiden walked up to Tali and put a hand on her shoulder. "Tali…" Kaiden said softly.

"No Kaiden, Wayne's alive, I know it!" Tali said still digging into the debris.

"We've been looking for three hours now, Tali, and we still haven't found him" Kaiden said. "Even if he was alive, he has more than likely succumbed to his injuries by now…." Tali continued to dig through the debris, ignoring Kaiden, she tried to pull a huge beam from the pile, but it wouldn't budge, she tried and she tried, until her strength gave out. Now on the floor, looking at the concentration of rubble, the overwhelming feeling of despair hit her gut as if a krogan punched her. Shepherd was lost, she would never again hear him call her 'Rookie', she would never feel his lips on hers, and she would never see his smile…Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Tali…" Tali immediately looked up, thinking she heard Shepherd's voice, but nothing was around. Was her grief so bad that she was now hearing things? But then… "Tali…" She looked around, she wasn't going crazy, she was hearing Shepherd's voice. Suddenly, there was a noise from beyond the rubble and wreckage, it was the unmistakable noise of debris being disturbed coming from her side. She ran to the disturbance, almost tripping over the debris, until she got to the wreckage and saw a dark hand underneath; she pulled out some of the wreckage until she revealed Shepherd's face, full of cuts and bruises.

"Keelah, Wayne! Kaiden!" Tali said. She immediately began to pull the debris from him. "Wayne, please hang on, please…please…"

"Tali, I'm so sorry…." Shepherd said weakly.

"Hush, you pribadi, you can apologize after we get you out…" Tali choked. Moments later, Kaiden, Anderson, and the two rescuers went to help the quarian dig Shepherd out; by some miracle he was alive. After getting Shepherd out, Anderson called the medics in, helping to get the battered Spectre to Huerta Memorial. For the next couple of days, Shepherd would be recovering, but it was such the cost of victory. When Shepherd was recovered enough, the spectre soon received a call from Anderson, the council wanted to speak to them.

"Anderson" Shepherd greeted. "What this about?"

"Don't know, although, I have a sinking feeling it may be because of what we did, to get you to Ilos" he said.

Shepherd frowned. "That's bullshit, if we didn't steal the Normandy we would all be dead now" he said.

"You know that and I know that, but I'm not sure the Council or the Alliance will see it that way" Anderson said. He sighed. "Oh well, at least I was able end my career with a bang, I suppose there are worse ways"

Shepherd lowered his head. "I'm sorry…" he said.

"For what? I came up with the idea, you just took my advice, I should be punished not you"

"You won't be facing this alone, if you go down, I'll go down with you" Shepherd said.

"Shepherd…"

"It's the least I can do, after everything you did for me, saving my life on Mindoir, taking in an angry punk kid for all these years, I'm not leaving you with bag"

Anderson chuckled lightly. "So stubborn…oh well, I know better than to argue with you" he said. "Shepherd, no matter what happens, in my book, you're a damn hero" Shepherd smiled.

"Thanks, old man" he said.

"No problem, little punk" he said. Anderson and Shepherd went into the Council Chambers, the Chambers was still were still a mess from all the fighting, but it was coming along fast than everyone thought. _'Ah, the benefits of power'_ Shepherd thought. The first one they met was Udina, the Ambassador had almost smug look on his face, no doubt happy about whatever punishment they were possibly going to get. Shepherd really wanted to wipe that look off his face, but he looked back and saw Anderson shaking his head, the spectre hesitantly relented he may be stripped of everything, it was probably best not to make it worse. Finally the Council made their appearance look no worse for wear, even though they were close to dying a few day ago.

"Ambassador, Captain, and Commander" the asari started. "We have gathered here to recognize the enormous contributions of the Alliance forces in the war against Sovereign and the geth."

Shepherd and Anderson looked at each other; it looked like they weren't in trouble after all. Udina's expression however didn't change, no doubt disappointed with not seeing Shepherd and Anderson being punished. "Many humans lost their lives to save all of us, brave and courageous lives so we might live" the salarian said.

"There is no greater sacrifice, and we share our grief over the loss of noble men and women." The turian said.

"We also owe you a great personal debt. One we can never repay" the asari councilors said. "You saved not just our lives, but the lives of billions"

"And though, we can't bring them back, we can honor them through our actions" the turian councilor said.

"Humanity has shown it is ready to be protectors of the galaxy. You have proven to be worthy to join the ranks our and serve beside the Citadel council" the asari said. The humans looked shocked, they knew they had done were good, but never in their wildest dreams would they be asked to join. Upon hearing the news, Shepherd saw Udina's eyes lit up and instantly rolled his eyes, he knew what was coming.

"On behalf of humanity and the Alliance we thank you for this honor, and humbly accept" Udina said.

"We will need a list of potential…" the salarian said before being interrupted by Shepherd. Now it was everyone else's turn to look at the Spectre.

"Actually, I know who would be a good choice." Shepherd said. The councilors looked at each other.

"Who?" the asari asked.

"Anderson" Shepherd said simply. Udina and Anderson looked at him.

"Anderson?! He's not a politician" Udina growled.

"Exactly, we've got enough of them on the Citadel, what we need a someone straight forward" Shepherd said. "Humanity needs someone looking out for their best interests, not trying to further their own agenda" Udina glared at Shepherd. "And Anderson is the most honorable, trustworthy person I know, he'll do us proud"

The asari smiled. "I think it's an inspired choice. The council welcomes him with open arms, should he accept" Anderson blinked for a minute; the older man had to take moment to process this endorsement of Shepherd. He then felt a hand on his shoulder and looked back, Shepherd nodded and smiled. That when he realized, he wasn't doing this just to screw Udina over, he really believed in him.

"Uh, I'm honored, Councilor. As humanity repetitive, I'll do everything in my power to help you rebuild"

"Sovereign's defeat marks the beginning of a new beginning for humanity and the council." The turian said.

Shepherd smirked. "Then I got work to do," he said as he walked away. Shepherd walked away and saw Tali waiting for him at the entrance. "So how long were you watching?"

"For a while…" She then saw Udina walking over to the couple; he gave a cold glare at Shepherd as he brushed past the spectre. "I think you've made Udina angry"

"A bonus" he said with a smirk. He then grew serious, Saren and Sovereign were gone, they had won, but it would mean Tali going back to the fleet. "So I guess, this is where we say goodbye?"

Tali hugged him. "No" she said.

"But what about…?" he asked.

"My people are very important to me, and I have to do what's best for them." Tali said. "But with the reapers still out there, I realize that staying with you, is what's best for my people." Tali said.

"I can't tell you how happy it makes me to hear that, Tali, but won't you…?" Shepherd said.

Tali interrupted him by placing a finger on his lips. "I'll risk it."

"What about that geth data?" he asked.

"I still plan on giving it to my people. It's important that they get it." Tali said. "But after that I'm coming with you, though it will take some time…"

"Why's that? We can just go now on the Normandy" he said with a smirk.

"You would…?" she asked. Shepherd kissed her on the mouthpiece.

"Anything for my girl" he said with a smile. He wrapped his arm around Tali's neck and the couple walked out of the Council Chambers, however little the Spectre knew, he was being watched….

_**Unknown**_

In the shadow of red giant, sat a man on a chair sipping on his wine, once a former mercenary during the First Contact War, but certain even showed him the future to come. And from that his life changed forever, no longer he was a simple gun for hire, he had purpose. To be the last in line of defense in the name of his species, to do the necessary work for good or ill in the name of his people's greatness. He had no name; he was simply Illusive, like darkness…

"Impressive, it seems we have underestimated Commander Shepherd" the man said smoking a cigarette. "At first we thought he was a simple annoyance, but he was able to defeat one of them, and get us a seat on the Council, no small feat…"

A woman scoffed. "Yes, but at the cost of human blood, our blood…" she said. "Do we even need a bleeding heart like him?"

"He doesn't look like much I know…but greatness comes from small things…" he said.

"So what now? He'll never work with us; all we are is terrorists to him…"

"He will, in the end, we all have a common enemy…keep an eye on him"

The woman sighed. "Sir…" The woman walked away and the man took another sip of wine.

"We have big plans for him…"

_**Pribadi: Keelish for idiot**_

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